SGT - Faculty and Staff Appreciation January 2013 - Dr. Kathleen Howell
| Event Date: | January 11, 2013 |
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Sigma Gamma Tau, the National Aerospace Engineering Honor Society, would like to recognize Dr. Kathleen Howell, Hsu Lo Professor within the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics as the January 2013 recipient of our Faculty and Staff Appreciation Award.
Dr. Howell has been a member of the faculty at Purdue since 1982 and is the Hsu Lo Professor of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. She received her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Iowa State University in 1973. Her M.S. (1977) and Ph.D. (1983) degrees in Aeronautical and Astronautical Sciences are from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics in the School of Engineering at Stanford University.
Dr. Howell maintains an active research program that includes spacecraft trajectory design and optimization to support active and planned missions within the Earth-Moon region as well as interplanetary science and exploration scenarios. Her investigations also include maneuver strategies for transfers and on-orbit operations.
Dr. Howell teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses at Purdue and has been recognized with numerous national and local awards for excellence as an engineering educator including:
- AIAA Fellow 2013
- W.A. Gustafson Award for Outstanding Teaching 2012
- Inducted into Iowa State University Department of Aerospace 'Engineering Hall of Fame' 2011
- A.A. Potter Best Teacher in Engineering Award, Purdue University, 1984 and 2011
- Elmer F. Bruhn Teaching Award for the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics 1984, 1987, 1990, 1995, 2002, 2005, 2010
- College of Engineering Leadership Award 2010, Purdue University
- Fellow, American Astronautical Society (AAS)
- American Astronautical Society (AAS) "President's Recognition Award": For Technical Achievement and Contributions to the Society and the Profession, August 2007
- John V. Breakwell Memorial Award, International Astronautical Federation, IAC Astrodynamics Symposium, IAF World Congress, Hyderabad, India, 2007
- Dirk Brouwer Award, AAS, 2004
- Named as one of '50 Most Important Women in Science' by Discover Magazine, Nov. 2002
- ‘Best-Paper Award’ at three AAS/AIAA conferences
- TRIANA Mission Achievement Award, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 2002
- Presidential Young Investigator Award 1984, presented by Ronald Reagan
Currently, the Editor-in-Chief of the AAS Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, she has previously served as Managing Editor for the journal. She has been a member of the AIAA Astrodynamics Technical Committee. She is currently a member of the Astrodynamics Committee of the International Astronautical Federation and the AAS Space Flight Mechanics Technical Committee and serves on various Purdue University and College of Engineering Committees.
Dr. Howell has been widely praised by the student body. One individual noted that “Dr. Howell is not only an excellent professor, but a profound mentor. She strives for excellence at everything she attempts, and she expects nothing less from her students as well. Moreover, under her tutelage I have grown in many ways not only academically, but personally. She challenges her students to challenge themselves, and this is a quality in professors that we sorely need to see more of.”
Faculty and Staff Appreciation Awards are given to individuals within the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics for going out of their way to help undergraduate and graduate students. Nominations can be made by any current AAE student on the Sigma Gamma Tau website, https://engineering.purdue.edu/SGT/recognition.html. Nominations are viewed by the chairperson of the Faculty and Staff Appreciation Awards committee and awarded on a monthly basis. Recipients of the awards are publically recognized in the Sigma Gamma Tau bulletin board and receive a card signed by AAE students.
Sigma Gamma Tau was founded on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, on February 28, 1953, “to offer appropriate recognition to persons of superior scholarship, outstanding character, and professional achievement in the field of Aeronautical Engineering.” Sigma Gamma Tau’s collegiate chapters elect annually to membership those students, alumni, and professionals who by conscientious attention to their studies or professional duties uphold this high standard for the betterment of their profession. More information can be found on the SGT website, https://engineering.purdue.edu/SGT/ .