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Sheila
Widnall, Sc.D.
Institute Professor; Professor of Aeronautics and
Astronautics and Engineering Systems, MIT; Member,
Columbia Accident Investigation Board |
Dr.
Widnall received her Sc.D. from MIT.
She
has served as Associate Provost, MIT, and as Secretary of
the Air Force. As Secretary of the Air Force, Dr. Widnall
was responsible for all affairs of the Department of the
Air Force including recruiting, organizing, training, administration,
logistical support, maintenance, and welfare of personnel.
During this time, the Air Force issued its long range vision
statement: Global Engagement: A Vision for the 21st
Century Air Force, which defined the path from the
air and space force of today to the space and air force
of the next century. Dr. Widnall was also responsible for
research and development and other activities prescribed
by the President or the Secretary of Defense. She co-chaired
the Department of Defense Task Force on Sexual Harassment
and Discrimination. She later stepped down to resume teaching.
Since
returning to MIT, she has been active in the Lean Aerospace
Initiative, with special emphasis on the space and policy
focus teams. Her research activities in fluid dynamics have
included the following: boundary layer stability, unsteady
hydrodynamic loads on fully wetted and supercavitating hydrofoils
of finite span, unsteady lifting-surface theory, unsteady
air forces on oscillating cylinders in subsonic and supersonic
flow, unsteady leading-edge vortex separation from slender
delta wings, tip-vortex aerodynamics, helicopter noise,
aerodynamics of high-speed ground transportation vehicles,
vortex stability, aircraft-wake studies, turbulence, and
transition. Her teaching activities have included undergraduate
dynamics and aerodynamics, graduate level aerodynamics of
wings and bodies, aeroelasticity, acoustics and aerodynamic
noise, and aerospace vehicle vibration. She
was a member of the Columbia accident investigation board
and she was inducted into the Women's
Hall of Fame in 2003.
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