Born in
Athens, Greece, Acrivos moved to the
United States to pursue an engineering education. He received a bachelor's degree from
Syracuse University in 1950; a master's degree from the
University of Minnesota in 1951; and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1954, all in chemical engineering. Acrivos is considered to be one of the leading
fluid dynamicists of the 20th century. In 1954, Acrivos joined the faculty at the
University of California, Berkeley. In 1962, he moved to
Stanford University, where he worked with Professor David Mason to build chemical engineering programs. In 1977, he was elected as a member into the
National Academy of Engineering for contributions in the application of mathematical analysis to the understanding of fundamental phenomena in chemical engineering processes. In 1987, Acrivos joined as the Albert Einstein Professor of Science and Engineering at The City College of the City University of New York, succeeding
Veniamin Levich. From 1982 to 1997, Acrivos served as the
editor-in-chief of
Physics of Fluids. Acrivos died in
Stanford, California, on 17 February 2025, at the age of 96. ==Awards and honors==