Skip to main content

W. Steven Lewellen

A headshot of Dr. W. Steven Lewellen

Inducted

2008

Degrees

  • BS, aerospace engineering, WVU, 1957
  • MS, aerospace engineering, Cornell University, 1959
  • PhD, engineering, UCLA, 1964

W. Steven Lewellen Graduated from WVU with a BSAE in 1957. He continued his education at Cornell University, earning an MAE there in 1959. He earned a Ph.D. in Engineering from UCLA in 1964. Along the way, he held positions at the Space Technology Laboratories Corporation (1959-61) and at the Aerospace Corporation (1961-66) where he was Manager of the Fluid Dynamics Section of the Aerodynamics and Propulsion Research Lab. In 1966 Dr. Lewellen moved across the country to take a position as Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He taught courses there in fluid dynamics and rocket propulsion, and did research in swirling flows and nuclear rocket technology. In 1972 he left MIT to work at Aeronautical Research Consultants of Princeton, Inc. Over the next 17 years, he held a number of technical and executive positions there, including Senior Consultant, Vice President of Environmental Research Group, and Senior Vice President. From 1989-1993, Dr. Lewellen was a Research Professor of Physics and Atmospheric Science at Drexel University. His primary research was in the area of atmospheric turbulence in the marine environment. In 1993, Steve returned to his roots as a Research Professor in the MAE Department here at WVU. He has teamed with his son, David, to do research in atmospheric turbulence, including projects on modeling tornado dynamics for NSF, modeling cloud scale turbulent transport for ONR, and modeling the decay of aircraft wakes for NASA and Boeing. His research results are detailed in more than 100 publications. Dr. Lewellen has been a member of the Advisory Committee of the MAE Department for many years.