Modern Flight Dynamics

David Schmidt was born in Lafayette, Indiana, and attended Purdue University where he received the B.S. degree, cum laude, in Aeronautical Engineering. He later received the M.S. degree from the University of Southern California and the Ph.D. from Purdue, both in aerospace engineering. Prior to his graduate studies he served on the technical staff of the Douglas, and then the McDonnell Douglas Missiles and Space Corporation. After first supporting the Apollo program in the development of the Saturn booster, he became Engineering Lead in a preliminary vehicle-design group of the Advanced Systems and Technology Division. Upon completion of his graduate education, he served on the technical staff of the Stanford Research Institute, focusing on research in systems analysis and optimization of air transportation systems. Dr. Schmidt's academic career began when he joined the faculty of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue, where he served as professor of aeronautics and astronautics for 14 years. He then joined the faculty of Arizona State University, where he served as professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering for six years. He later moved to the University of Maryland at College Park, where he served as professor of aerospace engineering for an additional six years. Lastly, he was invited to join the faculty at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, where he helped to establish the new Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He went on to also serve as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Dean of the Graduate School. He retired from the University of Colorado in 2006 and was appointed Professor Emeritus. His teaching was recognized at several of these institutions through many prestigious teaching awards. In 1997, Dr. Schmidt received the AIAA's highest honor in the field of flight dynamics and control when he was awarded the national Mechanics and Control of Flight Award. He is a Fellow of the AIAA.