Father Richardson: Some Incidents in his Early Life

Written by James Richardson’s brother, this article gives highlights of the former superior general’s life and career from childhood until 1968. Vincentian influence was present in his life from an early age. He attended a parochial school of the Daughters of Charity and a Vincentian high school, entering the Congregation’s novitiate in Perryville at the age of sixteen. He was later on the faculty of the seminary there. After that, Richardson became a faculty member and librarian of Saint John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California. He was also a canonist and won an important ecclesiastical trial during his time at Saint John’s. He filled many roles in California, becoming the first vice-provincial of the Vice-Province of Los Angeles

Large eddy simulation of a lifted ethylene flame using a dynamic nonequilibrium model for subfilter scalar variance and dissipation rate

Accurate prediction of nonpremixed turbulent combustion using large eddy simulation(LES) requires detailed modeling of the mixing between fuel and oxidizer at scales finer than the LES filter resolution. In conserved scalar combustion models, the small scale mixing process is quantified by two parameters, the subfilter scalar variance and the subfilter scalar dissipation rate. The most commonly used models for these quantities assume a local equilibrium exists between production and dissipation of variance. Such an assumption has limited validity in realistic, technically relevant flow configurations. However, nonequilibrium models for variance and dissipation rate typically contain a model coefficient whose optimal value is unknown a priori for a given simulation. Furthermore, conventional dynamic procedures are not useful for estimating the value of this coefficient. In this work, an alternative dynamic procedure based on the transport equation for subfilter scalar variance is presented, along with a robust conditional averaging approach for evaluation of themodel coefficient. This dynamic nonequilibrium modeling approach is used for simulation of a turbulent lifted ethylene flame, previously studied using DNS by Yoo et al. (Proc. Comb. Inst., 2011). The predictions of the new model are compared to those of a static nonequilibrium modeling approach using an assumed model coefficient, as well as those of the equilibrium modeling approach. The equilibrium models are found to systematically underpredict both subfilter scalar variance and dissipation rate. Use of the dynamic procedure is shown to increase the accuracy of the nonequilibrium modeling approach. However, numerical errors that arise as a consequence of grid-based implicit filtering appear to degrade the accuracy of all three modeling options. Thus, while these results confirm the usefulness of the new dynamic model, they also show that the quality of subfilter model predictions depends on several factors extrinsic to the formulation of the subfilter model itself

Very Reverend William M. Slattery, C.M.

A brief biographical sketch of former superior general William Slattery is combined with letters from two of his successors in office, Richard McCullen and James Richardson. The letters are testimonials to Slattery’s “unconscious holiness,” as well as to his many other virtues. McCullen cites Slattery’s enrichment and preservation of the Vincentian heritage. Richardson writes of how Slattery exemplified what Vincent de Paul desired of confreres in the Common Rules

Proposal for a new, experimental, unit of study at DePaul University

Proposal for what became the School for New Learning at DePaul University, one of an early wave of experimental, competency-based programs for adult and nontraditional students

Address to the General Assembly of the Daughters of Charity 8 December 1979

When the general assembly of the Daughters of Charity met in 1979, it did so to update itself within the context of the Second Vatican Council. The question was how to do this while remaining faithful to the gospel and the vision of Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul. In his address, Superior General James Richardson summarizes the assembly’s business. He identifies some of the conflicts among the Daughters. He uses the founders’ words, exhorting them to resolve the conflicts and make changes while ensuring that they are doing God’s will. Prayer is an important part of this process, and Richardson offers one at the end of his speech