Frank M. White is Professor Emeritus of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering at the University of Rhode Island. He studied at Georgia Tech and M.I.T. In 1966 he helped found, at URI, the first department of ocean engineering in the country. Known primarily as a teacher and writer, he has received eight teaching awards and has written four textbooks on fluid mechanics and heat transfer. From 1979 to 1990 he was editor-in-chief of the ASME Journal of Fluids Engineering and then served from 1991 to 1997 as chairman of the ASME Board of Editors and of the Publications Committee. He is a Fellow of ASME and in 1991 received the ASME Fluids Engineering Award. Joseph (“Joe”) Majdalani is the Hugh and Loeda Francis Chair of Excellence and Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Auburn University. A native of Beirut, Lebanon, he pursued his undergraduate studies in mechanical engineering at the American University of Beirut, where he received a B.E. degree in 1989. He then attended the University of Utah, completing additional M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in 1991 and 1995. He began teaching mechanical engineering at Marquette University in 1997 and moved to the University of Tennessee in 2003, serving consecutively as Jack D. Whitfield Professor of High Speed Flows and Arnold Chair of Excellence in Advanced Propulsion within the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering. In 2013, he joined Auburn University as the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council Endowed Professor and Department Chair of Aerospace Engineering.Dr. Majdalani has been recognized for his prolific scholarly contributions and exemplary mentorship. He has published more than 330 papers and been invited to present over 100 seminars and plenaries worldwide. He is a Fellow of both AIAA and ASME, and has received numerous recognitions for his teaching, research, and service. These include: the Wyld Propulsion and Mark A. Spencer Creative Mentorship Awards in 2024, the Von Kármán Lecture in Astronautics and the Senior Engineering Research Award for Excellence in 2023, the Auburn Book Author Award in 2022 and several AIAA Best Paper Awards in 2022, 2017, 2015, 2014, and 2005, the Abe M. Zarem Educator Awards in both Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2022, 2017 and 2012 (thrice), the Auburn University Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award in 2021, the ASEE/AIAA J. Leland Atwood Educator Award in 2018, the AIAA Sustained Service Award in 2016, the Aerospace Engineering Outstanding Faculty Member in 2015, the Konrad Dannenberg Educator of the Year in 2014, the SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award in 2007, the Hap Arnold Award in 2007, the NSF CAREER Award in 2002, Marquette’s Outstanding Teaching Awards in 1998–2000 (twice recipient), and Marquette’s College of Engineering Research Award in 1997–1998.
