Arthur Schiewe completed his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at Purdue in 1953 and his master's in 1954. While working toward his doctorate, Schiewe held a technical staff position with Westinghouse Electric Corporation and the position of group leader in the Inertial Guidance Department of TRW Systems.

Upon completion of his Ph.D., Schiewe joined The Aerospace Corporation, a federally funded research center that serves as architect-engineer for space systems. In 1978 he became general manager of the Guidance and Control Division and in 1980 was designated general manager of the Electronics and Optics Division. In 1981 he became general manager of the Mission Information Systems Division and in 1984 was appointed general manager of the Systems and Computer Engineering Division, his last assignment before becoming vice-president. His major technical contributions at The Aerospace Corporation have been in the areas of communication systems, vehicle control systems, and systems modeling and simulation.

As vice president of the Engineering and Technology Group of The Aerospace Corporation from 1989 to 1994, Schiewe was responsible for the engineering and technology organization that supported all individual corporate program offices. His operations included assessing the technical status of acquisition programs, assisting in the introduction of new technologies, and conducting scientific and engineering analyses. In this capacity, he oversaw several diagnostic centers and large-scale computer facilities and served on the company's seven-person executive board.

In July 1994, Dr. Arthur J. Schiewe was elected to the position of executive director of a new corporate program, The Aerospace Institute, and assumed responsibility for all internal educational programs.