UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — George Lesieutre, professor of aerospace engineering and former department head of aerospace engineering and associate dean in the Penn State College of Engineering (COE), retired on June 30 after 35 years of service to the University.
Lesieutre joined Penn State in 1989 as an assistant professor of aerospace engineering after earning a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. Over the course of his career with the college, Lesieutre served as head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering from 2004 to 2016 and as associate dean for research and graduate programs from 2016 to 2022. He also served in leadership positions, including director, for the Center for Acoustics and Vibration for more than two decades.
“In the face of an incredible administrative load, George remained the consummate scholar and a consistent mentor to our junior faculty, his students and department heads,” said Amy Pritchett, current head of the aerospace engineering department. “He is known by all as cheerful, constructive and concerned with helping others. Often his contributions served many without their knowing. Even as he moves on to his retirement, I hope that we will continue to enjoy his conversation and insight.”
As head of the aerospace engineering department, Lesieutre oversaw a major revision of the aerospace engineering curriculum; supported student participation in national competitions; led a campus wind energy working group, which resulted in new funding, faculty, programs and courses; facilitated a $4 million increase of the department’s annual research funding; and promoted collaborations with other COE departments and the Applied Research Laboratory.
During his time as associate dean, external research support and overall graduate student enrollment increased significantly, according to Tonya L. Peeples, Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of the Penn State College of Engineering.
“George’s successes as associate dean are a testament to his extraordinary impact on engineering students, staff and faculty, which can be felt throughout the University,” she said.
Lesieutre’s research centers on structural dynamics and adaptive structures. His work has contributed to the development of smart structures and materials in aviation and space applications that can harvest energy, control vibration and help manage other aspects of flight. In addition to hundreds of research publications, he co-authored a graduate-level textbook on structural dynamics in 2023.
Lesieutre received numerous research publication awards and professional honors throughout his career, including the Smart Structures and Materials Lifetime Achievement Award from SPIE in 2020 and the Penn State Engineering Society Outstanding Research award in 2000. He also was elected fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in 2009, served on AIAA’s board of directors for four years, and served as general chair of AIAA SciTech, the world’s largest aerospace research and development forum, in 2015.
“Serving as a Penn State faculty member all these years has been a tremendously fulfilling experience, and it has been a privilege to work with so many brilliant colleagues, talented staff members and curious students toward the ideal of a land-grant university,” Lesieutre said. “In my years as department head and associate dean, I was involved in hiring numerous faculty members, many of whom are still here. I am immensely proud of their successes and have taken seriously my responsibility to prepare them to lead. Part of that responsibility is to know when it is time to pass the baton.”