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SEAS emeritus faculty member receives
honorary degree
At
Commencement exercises Courtland D. Perkins became the first
emeritus faculty member of the School of Engineering and Applied
Science to receive an honorary doctorate degree from Princeton
when he received an honorary doctor of science.
Professor Perkins'
"pioneering text on aircraft stability and control laid
the groundwork for scientifically testing the limits of flight
in air and space. Over two decades his vision directed
a fledgling department to the leading edge of aerospace engineering,
and steered the University toward a new era of large-scale
research. Having begun his career in the nation's service,
he has repeatedly returned to public leadership. As engineer,
teacher, administrator, and wise adviser, he has provided
inspiration to students who have advanced the frontiers of
knowledge, captained the aerospace industry, and planted Princeton's
flag on the moon."
Professor Perkins joined Princeton in 1945 to head up a fledgling
program in flight test engineering and remained until he retired
in 1978, serving as chair of the Department of Aerospace and
Mechanical Sciences from 1951-72.
He was a pioneer in the field of in-flight test analysis
of aircraft stability and control, and the textbook he coauthored
in 1949, Airplane Performance Stability and Control, is still
in print. During World War II he headed the stability and
control unit of the aircraft laboratory, U.S. Army Air Corps.
He took leave from Princeton twice to serve the Department
of Defense. His government service also included leadership
of the advisory group for aerospace research and development
for NATO (1964-67), and membership on the space sciences board
for NASA (1965-70) and on the Central Intelligence Agency's
Intelligence Review Board (1986-88). He is a Fellow of the
Royal Aeronautical Society and of the American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics and was president of the National
Academy of Engineering from 1975-83. Professor Perkins earned
his bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College in 1935 and
his master's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in 1941.
Commencement
glee
Photos by Frank Wojciechowski
Eileen Higham celebrates.
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Photos by Frank Wojciechowski Electrical Engineering
major Erik Limpaecher shares a pre-Commencement moment
with his father, Rudy.
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