Dr. Barnes M McCormick

Foil: 3 Panel: 2 Column: 2 Line: 85

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Barnes W. Mc Cormick

Dr. McCormick was born in Waycross, Georgia, in 1926. He is married and has one daughter.

Dr. McCormick received his B.S. degree in 1948, his M.S. in 1949, and his Ph.D. in 1954, all from the Department of Aeronautical Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University.

After serving as an Associate Professor of Engineering Research at Penn State for one year, he joined the Vertol Aircraft Corporation (later a division of Boeing) in 1955 where he later held the position of Chief of Aerodynamics. In 1957 he was named Head of the Department of Aeronautical Engineering at Wichita State University. Dr. McCormick returned to The Pennsylvania State University in 1959 and was named Head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering in 1969. In 1985, he resigned as the Head to accept a distinguished professorship as the Boeing Professor of Aerospace Engineering. In 1990, he officially retired from Penn State and was named the Boeing Professor Emeritus. Dr. McCormick remains professionally active as a consultant and continues to teach an occasional course at Penn State where he maintains an office.

He is well known in the aeronautical engineering community as the author of two texts, Aerodynamics of V/STOL Flight and the Aerodynamics, Aeronautics and Flight Mechanics. The latter text is widely used as a reference and has recently been published as a 2nd edition. He has co-authored a reference book, Aircraft Accident Reconstruction and Litigation, published by Lawyers and Judges Publishing Co., 1996. Dr. McCormick has approximately 50 technical papers published in the fields of propeller theory, helicopters, aerodynamics, wake turbulence, hydrodynamics and education.

He has served as consultant to many legal firms and to industrial and government organizations including Boeing/Military, Boeing Helicopters, McDonnell-Douglas Helicopters, HRB-Singer, Outboard Marine Corporation, North American Aviation, Vitro Laboratories, Martin-Marietta, the U.S. Army Aeronautical Research Laboratory, U.S. Army Aviation Systems Command, Ling-Temco-Vought, Lockheed-California-Helicopter Division, Piper Aircraft Co., Federal Aviation Administration, Melpar, the Budd Company, Lear Avia Corporation, TRW, U.S. Naval Surface Weapon Center, and the U.S. House of Representatives (scientific consultant).

Dr. McCormick's areas of interest and experience include low-speed aerodynamics in general, flight mechanics, aerodynamics of vertical flight, propeller design (including marine propellers), hydrodynamics, aerodynamic noise, and the behavior of vortex systems including their interaction with aircraft and lifting surfaces generally. He is a private pilot with an instrument rating. He was formerly an Associate Editor for the AIAA's Journal of Aircraft and Editor of the Journal of the American Helicopter Society. He serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Aircraft, and, in the past, for NSF Engineering Division and the U.S. Army Research Office.

Dr. McCormick is an Honorary Fellow of the American Helicopter Society, having served as that Society's Technical Director. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and has served as Vice President for Education of the Institute.

He is a member of the American Society of Engineering Education and formerly a member and past president of the Aerospace Department Chairmen's Association. Dr. McCormick also holds memberships to Sigma Xi, the Society of Sigma Gamma Tau, and Tau Beta Pi. He has served as a Director of the Advisory Council for Archival Affairs, National Archives and Records, and on the U.S. Army Aviation Systems Command's Scientific Advisory Group.

Dr. McCormick is listed in Who's Who in Engineering, American Men of Science, Who's Who in America, the Dictionary of International Biography, Who's Who in Technology Today, Who's Who in Aviation and Aerospace, and Who's Who in Frontier Science and Technology. In 1976, the ASEE Aerospace Division-AIAA Educational Achievement Award was presented to Dr. McCormick for his innovative contributions to aerospace engineering education. In 1982, Dr. McCormick was selected to serve on the Board of Directors for ABET and was also selected as a member of the Education Committee of the American Helicopter Society. In September of 1984, Dr. McCormick was appointed to the Congressional Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. In 1988 he was appointed to the AGARD Flight Mechanics Panel, an organization of NATO. He served as the US Coordinator for the Flight Vehicle Integration Panel until 1997 when AGARD was disbanded by NATO.