Joe Schetz

B.S. Webb Institute of Naval Architecture, 1958
M.S.E. Princeton University, 1960
MA Princeton University, 1961
Ph.D. Princeton University, 1962

Dr. Joseph A. Schetz was born and raised in New Jersey and attended Webb Institute of Naval Architecture in New York on a 100% Scholarship. The launch of Sputnik in 1957 caused him to change career directions and enter the aerospace field. He went on to receive his MSE (1960), MA (1961) and PhD (1962) in Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University.

He started his professional career at General Applied Science Lab in New York in 1961, performing innovative analyses and experiments on the then new concept of supersonic combustion ramjets. In 1964, Dr. Schetz joined the faculty of the University of Maryland as an Associate Professor. In the same year, he began work as a Consultant to the Applied Physics Lab of Johns Hopkins University. While at the Univ. of Maryland and APL/JHU, he made many important contributions to high-speed aerodynamics and combustion. He came to Virginia Tech in 1969 as Head of the Aerospace Engineering Dept., a position he held for 24 years until 1993. That period saw a rapid expansion of the department and a new emphasis on research and graduate study, and he led the addition of Ocean Engineering to the program. He is currently the holder of the Fred D. Durham Chair in Aerospace and Ocean Engineering.

His research interests cover all aspects of aircraft aerodynamics and design and experimental and theoretical fluid dynamics, with a particular emphasis on high-speed flows and propulsion. Dr. Schetz is the author of 3 books, 5 chapters in other books and more than 350 refereed papers and Editor of a three-volume handbook on fluid dynamics and fluids machinery. He holds three Patents.

One of his books is a highly-regarded textbook, and he has won awards for classroom teaching. A large number of his former Ph.D. and Masters students now hold a wide variety of important positions in industry, government and academia both in the US and overseas. He is a frequent and active member of the PhD committees of graduate students not only in aerospace, but also civil and mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech and foreign universities.

Select Awards and Recognition
Fellow AIAA
Fellow ASME
Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society
Virginia Tech Alumni Award for Excellence in Research
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research
Pendray Aerospace Literature Award
Air Breathing Propulsion Award
Aerospace Contribution to Society Award
J. Leland Atwood Outstanding Aerospace Educator Award