Phill Holmes, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, has won the 2009 Lyapunov Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

The award, named for the Russian mathematician Aleksandr Lyapunov (1857-1918), recognizes lifelong contributions to the field of nonlinear dynamics, and will be awarded at the 2009 International Design Engineering Technical Conference in San Diego.

Holmes has been professor of mechanics and applied mathematics at Princeton since 1994. He previously directed the Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics and is an associate faculty member in the department of mathematics.

His research focuses on nonlinear dynamics and differential equations, developing qualitative and analytical methods for studying mathematical models of solid, fluid and biological systems.