Hermann Viets

{{Short description|American academic administrator (1943–2017)}}

{{Infobox scientist

| image =

| image_size = 150px

| name = Hermann Viets

| birth_date = {{birth date|1943|1|28|df=y}}

| birth_place = Quedlinburg, Germany

| death_place = South Kingstown, Rhode Island

| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|10|1|1943|1|28|df=y}}

| spouse = Pamela DeaneNew York City Vital Records Index, Queens, NY, 1968

| field = Astronautics engineer, educator, educational administrator

| work_institutions = Milwaukee School of Engineering, University of Rhode Island, West Virginia University, Wright State University

| alma_mater = New York University

}}

Hermann Viets (28 January 1943 – 1 October 2017) was a German-born American astronautics engineer and president of Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). He was MSOE's fourth president, assuming the position in 1991.

Early life

Viets was born in Quedlinburg, Germany on 28 January 1943.

He earned all three of his degrees from New York University's Polytechnic Institute: a B.S. in aerospace engineering in 1965, an M.S. in astronautics in 1966, and a doctorate in astronautics in 1970.{{cite web|url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/obituaries/2017/10/05/retired-longtime-msoe-president-hermann-viets-died-his-sleep-school-announced/735684001/ |title=Retired longtime MSOE president Hermann Viets dies in his sleep, school announces |author=Karen Herzog |publisher=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|date=5 Oct 2017|accessdate=11 Oct 2017}}

Career

Viets held seven US patents.

He was Professor of Engineering at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He was a professor and Associate Dean for Research at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. the Dean of Engineering at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, Rhode Island, before becoming president of MSOE. He was one of the co-founders of the International Engineering Program at URI.{{cite web|url=http://web.uri.edu/engineering/a-worldly-engineering-program/|title= A Worldly Engineering Program|publisher=University of Rhode Island|accessdate=11 Oct 2017}}

He has also been a visiting scientist, aerospace engineer and research group leader for Wright Patterson Air Force Base Aerospace Research Laboratories in Dayton, Ohio; and a lecturer at the Von Karman Institute in Brussels, Belgium.

Viets died at his home in South Kingstown, Rhode Island on 1 October 2017.

Legacy

The athletic field at the Milwaukee School of Engineering was named in Viets's honor in 2013. In 2019, the University announced a brand new residence tower bearing his name.{{cite web|url=http://www.go-raiders.com/landing/viets_field_102513|title=MSOE Field Renamed Viets Field|publisher=MSOE Athletics Department|date=25 October 2013|accessdate=11 October 2017|archive-date=12 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012043744/http://www.go-raiders.com/landing/viets_field_102513|url-status=dead}}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20060831094720/http://www.msoe.edu/centennial/history/hermann_viets.shtml Biography of Hermann Viets at Milwaukee School of Engineering].

{{succession box

| title=President of MSOE

| years=1991-2015

| before=Robert R. Spitzer

| after=John Y. Walz

}}

Category:1943 births

Category:2017 deaths

Category:21st-century American engineers

Category:German emigrants to the United States

Category:Wright State University faculty

Category:People from Quedlinburg

Category:People from South Kingstown, Rhode Island

Category:University of Rhode Island faculty

Category:West Virginia University faculty

Category:Milwaukee School of Engineering people

Category:Polytechnic Institute of New York University alumni

Category:Heads of universities and colleges in the United States