Thomas W. Eagar, professor of materials engineering and engineering systems, post-tenure, in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) and an internationally recognized expert in welding, died Oct. 9 at his home in Belmont, Massachusetts. He was 72. An outspoken scholar and admired teacher, Eagar had a reputation for saying, as he put it, “provocative things,” about MIT and research and academia in general, often rooted in deeply held principles about integrity and truth. “Professor Eagar was as beloved for his personal stories from half-a-century at MIT as he…
