Dr. Donald and Pat Wilson

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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Donald and Sharon Wilson

Donald Wilson received his BSAE from Georgia Tech, MSAE from The University of Tennessee (Space Institute) and PhD Engineering from The University of Texas Arlington (UTA). He started his professional career at the Arnold Engineering Development Center, where he was involved in the development of hypersonic test facilities. During that time, he and his wife Lona (Pat) became avid supporters of the space program, eagerly watching all of the early space launches on TV. Don also spent a year at LTV Aerospace and Defense, working on the development of supersonic aircraft propulsion systems, before joining UTA. At UTA, he rose through the ranks from Assistant to Full Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He also spent two summers at NASA Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center as a Summer Research Faculty Fellow. He was responsible for the development of the UTA Aerodynamics Research Center, and its transonic, supersonic and hypersonic wind tunnel facilities, 1.6 MW arc jet facility, and detonation combustion research test cells. Don was Director of the NASA-sponsored UTA Hypersonic Research Center, and served tours as Director of the Aerospace Engineering Program, and Chair of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. One of Don's proudest achievements was the honor of serving as instructor and MS thesis supervisor of Kalpana Chawla (KC), the first astronaut from India. Subsequently, Don and Pat became close personal friends of KC, and were able to watch her first shuttle launch from the viewing stands at Kennedy Space Center in 1997. KC visited UTA on several occasions, and was elected to the College of Engineering Hall of Achievement in 1998. She gave Don and Pat a behind-the-scenes tour of NASA Johnson Space Center during a visit to Houston, where Don was able to hitch a ride on the Shuttle Simulator, while Pat was shown through the simulated living quarters of the Shuttle. The tragic loss of the Columbia over North Texas in 2003 was one of the saddest days of their lives, and they will always cherish the plaque from KC following her first mission where she wrote "To Don and Pat Wilson - my adopted family."