| 1 | Name: | Dr. Sheila E. Widnall | |
| Institution: | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | ||
| Year Elected: | 2000 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 103. Engineering | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1938 | ||
Sheila Widnall has been a trustee of the Carnegie Corporation and vice chair of its board, a consultant to the MacArthur Foundation, a director of the Aerospace Corporation, Draper Laboratories, ANSER Corporation and Chemical Fabrics Incorporated, a trustee of the Boston Museum of Science, and a member of the Council of the Smithsonian Institution of Washington. She was a member of the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology and Government and is a past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a director of the Atlantic Council. Dr. Widnall's 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. Dr. Widnall earned her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964 and has taught there for over 40 years. From 1979-90 she directed the Fluid Dynamics Research Laboratory and in 1986 was named Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of Aeronautics & Astronautics. She currently holds the title of Institute Professor at M.I.T. | |||