Robert Walters named vice president for research
Robert Walters, interim associate vice president of research at Virginia Tech, has been named vice president for research effective immediately for a three-year period, announced Mark McNamee, university provost and vice president for academic affairs.
“Bob brings to this role a broad knowledge of the university, solid academic management experience, and an unusual combination of strong research skills and entrepreneurial experience,” said McNamee. “In the brief time since he joined the leadership team in the Office of the Vice President for Research, he has already made an important contribution working with others to revise our scholarly misconduct policies to bring them into compliance with federal expectations and to assure the integrity of our research operations. I am confident that he will help us move our research agenda forward.”
Walters, professor of aerospace and ocean engineering in the College of Engineering, was department head until September, when he joined the Office of the Vice President for Research as interim associate vice president. He was department head since 2002.
Walters earned a Ph.D. degree in aerospace engineering in 1984, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1978, and a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering in 1977, all from North Carolina State University. Upon completion of his Ph.D. he worked at the NASA Langley Research Center as a Research Associate of the National Research Council.
His primary research area has been computational fluid dynamics with a focus on algorithm research. His research and professional contributions have been recognized by an IBM Supercomputing Award, a NASA Certificate of Recognition, and a NASA Group Achievement Award among others. He is the current chairman of the Aerospace Department Chairs Association and is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He has also has served as Associate Editor of the AIAA Journal and has served on numerous other professional society committees.
In 1988, Walters founded AeroSoft Inc., a company that specializes in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software development and applications. Located at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, the company supports the computational simulation needs of a wide range of government, industry, and academic customers using state-of-the-art CFD software. Ten years after the formation of AeroSoft, Walters sold the company to employees.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech is the most comprehensive university in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is among the top research universities in the nation. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to quality, innovation, and results through teaching, research, and outreach activities. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.
