COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Dr. L.S. "Skip" Fletcher, Regents Professor and Thomas A. Dietz Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has received the 2006 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation Award for Excellence. Fletcher was recognized for "four decades of dedicated service to the aerospace community as an educator, mentor and leader, and for exemplary efforts to further international collaboration in science and engineering." Fletcher was also recently named president-elect of the Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology (ABET) Inc., the accreditation body dedicated to ensuring quality in applied science, computing, engineering and technology education. Fletcher came to Texas A&M in 1980 and has held a variety of positions at the university, including associate dean of the Dwight Look College of Engineering and the Halliburton Professor of Mechanical Engineering. From 1985-88, Fletcher was associate director of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), the engineering research agency of Texas and a member of The Texas A&M University System. From 1999 to 2005, Fletcher was director for aerospace at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. Before coming to Texas A&M, Fletcher was professor and chairman of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia. He also served as a professor of aerospace engineering and associate dean at Rutgers University. A registered professional engineer in Arizona, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia, England and Australia, Fletcher has written more than 200 journal and conference papers and six books, and holds five patents. Fletcher is a Fellow of AIAA, ABET, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Astronautical Society, and the American Society for Engineering Education. Among his numerous honors are the ASME Medal, the society’s highest form of recognition; the 2005 James Watt International Gold Medal by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers of the United Kingdom; and the 2006 Bush Excellence Award for Faculty in Public Service. Fletcher received a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M, a master’s degree from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from Arizona State University, all in mechanical engineering. Established in 1998, the award recognizes unique contributions and extraordinary accomplishments by organizations or individuals and is granted by the institute’s Board of Trustees on a case-by-case basis. Past recipients of the award Sen. John Glenn, Gen. Tommy Franks, John Travolta and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili.
