Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academics

Distinguished Lecture Series

Title: An Academic Goes to Washington

Sheila Widnall, Ph.D.
Institute Professor, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, 1992-1997

Wednesday, February 23, 2000, at 7:30 p.m.
Auditorium, Presidential Conference Center
Texas A&M University

Abstract

What's it like to move from an academic setting, from my role as Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Associate Provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to the head of a large military organization, the United States Air Force? What skills and attitudes do academics bring with them to the Washington arena that are important and useful in managing the complex tasks facing the head of a large government organization? How different is a great academic institution from a great military organization such as the US Air Force? And what about the media: are there any similarities between the way they react to the behavior of such organizations and their people? Are there any lessons to be learned?

In the end, I believe it is about people and about values: personal and institutional. For as important as it was to oversee the development of science and technology in the Air Force and the application of these new capabilities to the emerging contemporary military missions, it was more important to take care of the people of the Air Force, America's sons and daughters, who make a commitment of self to this Nation that has no parallel in civilian life.

It is often said that the best leader is a teacher. I have seen this first hand and truly believe that my background as an educator was the single most useful thing I brought with me to that five-sided building on the Potomac.

However, in the spirit of full disclosure, I will say that the opportunity to fly every aircraft in the Air Force inventory was a significant attraction to take the position: and I did.

About the Speaker

Sheila Widnall stepped down from her position as Secretary of the Air Force on October 31, 1997, to return to her faculty position at MIT. As Secretary of the Air Force, Dr. Widnall was responsible for all the affairs of the Department of the Air Force including recruiting, organizing, training, administration, logistical support, maintenance, and welfare of personnel. She was also responsible for the formulation of policies and programs by the Department of the Air Force; the effective cooperation and coordination between the Department of the Air Force and the other military departments and agencies of the Department of Defense; the effective and timely implementation of policy, program, and budget decisions; the effective supervision and control of the intelligence activities of the Air Force; and the presentation and justification of the positions of the Air Force on the plans, programs, and policies of the Department of Defense to include recommendations to Congress. Dr. Widnall was also responsible for research and development and other activities prescribed by the President or the Secretary of Defense. She co-chaired the Department of Defense Task Force on Sexual Harassment and Discrimination.

As Associate Provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Widnall had responsibility for academic integrity including conflict of interest policy, federal relations, faculty retirement, tenure and promotion policies, and international programs.

Dr. Widnall, the Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, was named Institute Professor in November 1998. Institute Professor is the highest honor awarded by the faculty and administration at MIT. She is internationally recognized for her contributions to the field of fluid mechanics, specifically her work on the stability and dynamics of vortices and free shear layers. This work has made major contributions to the understanding and prediction of helicopter rotor blade aerodynamics and noise generation, unsteady loads on high-speed trains, and breakup and decay of aircraft wave vortices.

She is a member and the current Vice President of the National Academy of Engineering and president-elect of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics. She was the first woman president of the America Association for the Advancement of Science. She has served as a member of many prestigious public and private sector committees and boards concerned with science policy as well as engineering and technology issues. She has been a trustee of the Carnegie Corporation, the Aerospace Corporation, a director of the Draper Laboratories,Chemical Fabrics Incorporated, and a trustee of the Boston Museum of Science.

She is a native of Tacoma, Washington, and holds bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.