Sheila Widnall

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Sheila Widnall

Sheila Marie Evans Widnall (born July 13, 1938 in Tacoma , Washington ) is an American fluid mechanic , aerospace engineer and science manager.

Life

Sheila Widnall studied at MIT with a bachelor's degree in 1960 and a master's degree in 1961. In 1964 she received her doctorate from MIT with a thesis on fluid mechanics, Unsteady Loads on Hydrofoils Including Free Surface and . In the same year she became Assistant Professor, 1970 Associate Professor and 1974 Full Professor of aerospace at MIT. Her research specifically focused on aerodynamic problems . Until 1993 she held various functions in university administration and in research institutions at MIT. From 1979 to 1990 she headed the Fluid Dynamics Research Laboratory . She was also a member of several US aerospace boards.

She became the first woman Secretary of the Air Force on August 6, 1993 under President Bill Clinton . This office she held until October 31, 1997. After 1997, she was, among other things, from 1998 to 2005 Vice President of the National Academy of Engineering and 2003 member of the committee that investigated the cause of the crash of the Space Shuttle Columbia .

Sheila Widnall has received numerous military and civilian awards for her services in the aerospace industry. In 1982 she became a Fellow of the American Physical Society , in 1983 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and in 1988 of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . In 1985 she was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering and in 2000 of the American Philosophical Society . In 1988 she was President of the AAAS . In 2003 she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame . She is an honorary doctor of several universities and colleges.

Fonts (selection)

  • Sheila E. Widnall, JP Sullivan: On the stability of vortex rings . In: Proceedings of the Royal Society A . tape 332 , no. 1590 , 1973, pp. 335-353 , doi : 10.1098 / rspa.1973.0029 .
  • Sheila E. Widnall, DB Bliss, C.-Y. Tai: The instability of short waves on a vortex ring . In: Journal of Fluid Mechanics . tape 66 , no. 1 , 1974, p. 35-47 , doi : 10.1017 / S0022112074000048 .
  • SE Widnall: The structure and dynamics of vortex filaments . In: Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics . tape 7 , 1975, p. 141–165 , doi : 10.1146 / annurev.fl.07.010175.001041 .
  • Sheila E. Widnall: AAAS Presidential Lecture: Voices from the Pipeline . In: Science . tape 241 , no. 4874 , 1988, pp. 1740–1745 ( semanticscholar.org [PDF]).
  • Sheila E. Widnall, Ronald R. Fogleman: Global Presence . In: Defense Technical Information Center . Spring, 1995 ( online [PDF; accessed October 18, 2018]).

literature

Web links

Commons : Sheila E. Widnall  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  • Entry with the National Academy of Engineering on the occasion of the presentation of the Arthur M. Bueche Award
  • Entry into the National Women's Hall of Fame

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sheila Widnall in the Mathematics Genealogy Project (English)Template: MathGenealogyProject / Maintenance / id used
  2. ↑ Member History: Sheila E. Widnall. American Philosophical Society, accessed October 17, 2018 .
  3. ^ William R. Sears: Sheila E. Widnall: President-Elect of AAAS . In: Science . tape 232 , no. 4755 , 1986, pp. 1199-1200 , doi : 10.1126 / science.232.4755.1199 .
personal data
SURNAME Widnall, Sheila
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Widnall, Sheila Marie Evans (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American fluid mechanic, aerospace engineer, and science manager
DATE OF BIRTH July 13, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Tacoma , Washington