Sheila Marie Evans Widnall (born July 13, 1938) is an American

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and ast ...

researcher and Institute Professor Emerita at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

(MIT). She served as

United States Secretary of the Air Force The secretary of the Air Force, sometimes referred to as the secretary of the Department of the Air Force, (SecAF, or SAF/OS) is the head of the Department of the Air Force and the service secretary for the United States Air Force and United ...

from 1993 to 1997, making her the first woman to hold that post and the first woman to lead an entire branch of the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

in the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

. She was inducted into the

National Women's Hall of Fame The National Women's Hall of Fame (NWHF) is an American institution incorporated in 1969 by a group of men and women in Seneca Falls, New York, although it did not induct its first enshrinees until 1973. As of 2021, it had 303 inductees. Induc ...

in 2003.

Life and career

Widnall was born and raised in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

, graduating from the Aquinas Academy for Girls in 1956. She graduated from MIT with a SB in 1960, SM in 1961, and ScD in 1964, all in

Aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identif ...

. Her master's thesis was entitled ''Boundary layer stability over flexible surfaces'' and her doctoral thesis was entitled ''Unsteady loads on hydrofoils including free surface effects and cavitation'', both under the supervision of Marten T. Landahl. Widnall was appointed as the

Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Abigail Aldrich Rockefeller (November 9, 1903 – May 27, 1976) was an American philanthropist and the daughter of American financier John D. Rockefeller Jr. and a granddaughter of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. Family backgroun ...

Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1986 and joined the Engineering Systems Division, was Chair of the Faculty 1979–1981, and has served as MIT's Associate Provost from 1992–1993. In 1988 she was the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

. She was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

that same year. In 2000, Widnall was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

. On July 4, 1993, in the wake of the

Tailhook scandal The Tailhook scandal was a military scandal in which United States Navy and U.S. Marine Corps aviation officers were alleged to have sexually assaulted up to 83 women and seven men, or otherwise engaged in "improper and indecent" conduct at t ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

announced her nomination to be Secretary of the Air Force. The Senate received her nomination July 22, 1993, and confirmed her two weeks later on August 5, 1993, 183 days after

inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...

and 197 after the office became vacant. She was the first woman to head a branch of the US military. During her tenure she handled the

Kelly Flinn Kelly Flinn (whose surname was sometimes misspelled as Flynn; born December 23, 1970) is a former B-52 pilot in the United States Air Force (USAF). She was the first female pilot to serve in that capacity. She was discharged from the U.S. Air ...

scandal. She was elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

in 1985, serving as vice-president from 1998 to 2005 and winning their Arthur M. Bueche Award in 2009. Widnall was a member of the board of investigation into the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster. She currently works with th
Lean Advancement Initiative
She married William Soule Widnall in June 1960. Her husband earned a doctorate degree from MIT in aerospace engineering and headed the MIT-Draper team that developed the Apollo GN&C system. The couple has two grown children, William and Ann Marie.

Research

Widnall's research has been focused on

fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids ( liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them. It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and ...

, in particular the aerodynamics of high-speed vehicles, helicopters, aircraft wakes, and turbulence. One of her most notable works is on the elliptical instability mechanism with

Raymond Pierrehumbert Raymond Thomas Pierrehumbert is the Halley Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford. Previously, he was Louis Block Professor in Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago. He was a lead author on the Third Assessment Report of th ...

Writings

"Science and the Atari Generation."
Science (August 12, 1983): 607.
"AAAS Presidential Lecture: Voices from the Pipeline."
Science (September 30, 1988): 1740-1745.

References

External links

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Appearance on WMBR's

' radio show March 2, 2005 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Widnall, Sheila E. 1938 births Living people MIT School of Engineering alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering People from Tacoma, Washington United States Secretaries of the Air Force Washington (state) Democrats American women engineers Women in the United States Air Force MIT School of Engineering faculty Aeronautical engineers American women academics 21st-century American women Members of the American Philosophical Society

Life and career

Research

Writings

References

Further reading

External links