Dr. Christiansen became a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves while an ROTC student in college. After graduating from CalTech, he completed his U.S. Army basic training and then worked for six years at NASA?€™s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California, working on projects related to rarefied gas flows and nonequilibrium plasmas, and fulfilling his military service obligation. Dr. Christiansen joined the Energetics Research Program at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1967, later becoming Professor and Chairman of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. His research was mainly focused on high-powered lasers and gas optics (phenomena relating to the interaction of fluid mechanics and light), but he also maintained interests in high-speed gas dynamics including hypersonic flow. After 34 years with the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department at the University of Washington, Dr. Christiansen settled into a more relaxed life of retirement, although he continued to teach at the University for another four years. His honors include being recognized as a Fellow by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Education:
B.S., Carnegie Institute of Technology (Mechanical Engineering), 1956
M.S., California Institute of Technology (Aeronautical Engineering), 1957
Ph.D., California Institute of Technology (Aeronautical Engineering), 1961