Robert Winfield Hess (1929-2001) earned degrees from the University of Maryland (B.S.) and the University of Virginia (M.S.) in Aeronautical Engineering. He began his research career with NACA in 1959 and continued as a structural dynamics research engineer at the NASA Langley Research Center until 1988. His career was in aeroelasticity with emphasis on the fields of acoustic response, panel flutter, and lifting surface flutter. He contributed to the design of the Saturn-Apollo Launch Vehicle.