Earll Murman

to Present SAE/AIAA William Littlewood Memorial Lecture

November 8, 2007

Earll Murman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the recipient of the SAE International/American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) William Littlewood Memorial Lecture award. He will present the lecture at the AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit in Reno, Nev., Jan. 7-10, 2008.

The award, established in 1971, recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to the field of air transport engineering. The award honors the memory of William Littlewood, the only person ever to serve as president of both SAE International (1954) and the AIAA (1959). He was renowned for his contributions to the design of, and operational requirements for, civil transport aircraft.

The award is funded through the SAE Foundation. In addition to supporting the awards, recognition and scholarship programs of SAE International, the SAE Foundation develops and funds programs and incentives that foster student interest in engineering, scientific and technical education.

Murman is the Ford Professor of Engineering Emeritus in the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department and Engineering Systems Division at MIT. He is also Director of the Lean Aerospace Initiative’s Educational Network, a group of more than 30 schools that develop and deploy curriculum based on Lean Six Sigma principles.

Murman’s career has spanned the fields of aerodynamics, computational fluid dynamics, systems engineering, industrial productivity, and engineering education. In addition to his 26 years in academia, he gained industry experience at Boeing Scientific Research Laboratories, Flow Research Co., and NASA's Ames Research Center.

Murman is the lead author of Lean Enterprise Value: Insights from MIT's Lean Aerospace Initiative, a book published by Palgrave in March 2002 that received the Best Engineering Sciences Book Award from the International Astronautical Academy. He also has published more than 90 journal articles and technical papers. A paper he wrote in 1971 with Julian Cole, "Calculation of Plane Steady Transonic Flow," is a Citation Classic and was reprinted in a special issue of the AIAA Journal marking the centennial of powered flight.

In recognition of his publications, Murman received the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Design and Development Prize for written papers, and the AIAA Applied Aerodynamics 1987 Outstanding Paper of the Year Award. He is also the recipient of five outstanding teaching and advising awards from students in the MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Department.

Murman is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and member of the International Council on Systems Engineering and the American Society for Engineering Education.

Murman holds his doctorate in aerospace engineering from Princeton University, where he graduated summa cum laude. He resides in Port Townsend, Wash.

For more information on Murman, please contact William T.G. Litant at MIT, wlitant@mit.edu.

For more information on the SAE International/American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) William Littlewood Memorial Lecture, please contact pr@sae.org.