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Biography
AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Published as AuthorPublished as SubjectWilliam Rees Sears
Dates
March 1, 1913 – October 12, 2002
Authorized Form of Name
Sears, William Rees, 1913-2002
Additional Forms of Names
Sears, Bill, 1913-2002
Sears, W. R. (William Rees), 1913-2002
Biography
Abstract
William Sears was Emeritus Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arizona (1985-2002). Other institutional affiliations included Cornell University and Northrop Aircraft, Inc. He was an aeronautical engineer whose research included aerodynamics, fluid mechanics, and airfoils.
Important Dates
March 1, 1913Birth, Minneapolis (Minn.).
1934Obtained BAeroE, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (Minn.).
1937 – 1941Instructor to Assistant Professor, California Institute of Technology.
1938Obtained PhD in Aeronautical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).
1941 – 1946Chief Aerodynamicist, Northrop Aircraft, Inc.
1946 – 1974Professor of Aeronautical Engineering and Director, Graduate School of Aeronautical Engineering (1946-1964); Director, Center for Applied Mathematics (1963-1967); and J. L. Given Professor of Engineering (1963-1974), Cornell University, Ithaca (N.Y.).
1974Member, National Academy of Sciences.
1974 – 2002Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (1974-1985) and Emeritus Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (1985-2002), University of Arizona, Tucson (Ariz.).
1992Awarded Fluid Dynamics Prize, American Physical Society.
October 12, 2002Death, Tucson (Ariz.).
Occupation
Aeronautical engineer.
Places
Birth
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Relationships
People
Family
Rhodes, Mabel
Wife.
Sears, Gertrude Rees
Mother.
Advisors & Collaborators
Von Kármán, Theodore, 1881-1963
PhD advisor at California Institute of Technology.
Colleagues
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at Cornell University.
Both employed at Cornell University.
Liepmann, H. W. (Hans Wolfgang), 1914-
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Millikan, Clark Blanchard, 1903-1966
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Institutions
Major Positions
California Institute of Technology. Division of Engineering and Applied Science
Obtained PhD in Aeronautical Engineering (1938). Instructor to Assistant Professor.
Cornell University. College of Engineering
Professor of Aerunautical Engineering and J. L. Given Professor of Engineering.
Northrop Corporation
Chief Aerodynamicist.
University of Arizona. Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Professor and Emeritus Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
Received 1992 Fluid Dynamics Prize.
Cornell University
Director, Center for Applied Mathematics.
Cornell University. Graduate School of Aerospace Engineering
Director.
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Member.
University of Minnesota. Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics
Obtained BAeroE (1934).
Resources
Published Resources
Author
Stories from a 20th-Century Life (Stanford: Parabolic Press, 1994)
Subject
"William Rees Sears: 1913-2002", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences