Joseph A. Schetz, 2021
Dr. Joseph A. Schetz was born and raised in New Jersey. He is the Grandson of poor ethnic German immigrants from Slovakia and ethnic Albanians from Italy. His father started work as a Draftsman and ended his career supervising large electrical construction projects, including a Hydrazine Plant in Saltville, VA. He had one younger sister, Linda, who passed away in 2010. He is the first person on either side of his family to graduate from college. As a youngster, Joe became attracted to attending the US Naval Academy after reading the books Dave Darrin at Annapolis, and he attained admission and a Congressional Appointment. At the last minute, he changed direction while staying in the marine field and chose to attend Webb Institute of Naval Architecture in New York on a 100% Scholarship, receiving a BS in 1958. The launch of Sputnik in 1957 caused him to switch 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, working under the well-known, high-speed aerodynamicist Dr. Antonio Ferri. At GASL, Dr. Schetz performed 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 Univ. That relationship continued on a regular basis for 32 years. 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 until 1993 after serving for 24 years. 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 at Virginia Tech.
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 380 refereed papers and Editor of a three-volume handbook on fluid dynamics and fluids machinery. He holds three Patents. He has received several major research and literature awards from national professional societies, Virginia Tech and other universities: Virginia Tech Alumni Award for Excellence in Research; Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research; and Pendray Aerospace Literature Award, Air Breathing Propulsion Award, Aerospace Contribution to Society Award, J. Leland Atwood Outstanding Aerospace Educator Award, Aerodynamic Measurement Technology Award, and Dryden Research Lectureship all from AIAA. He is a Life Fellow of both AIAA and ASME and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the AIAA Education Book Series.
One of his books is a highly-regarded textbook, and he has won awards for classroom teaching. A current total of 75 PhD students and an even larger number of MS students have completed their degrees under his supervision. These former students now hold a wide variety of important positions in industry, government and academia both in the US and overseas.
Joe Schetz married his wife Katherine who he met on a blind date at an annual “Shipwreck Dance” at Webb Institute. They have four children, eight grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. He is an enthusiastic hunter and fisherman and enjoys any kind of outdoor activity. He has always been a dedicated worker in the Republican Party in New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Virginia and is a long-standing member of the Montgomery County Republican Committee. Joe is active in the Catholic Church and a strong supporter of the Newman Society catholic student group at Virginia Tech.