
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 17, 1990                   TAG: 9007140221
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

ASSOCIATE DEAN NAMED

Walter F. O'Brien Jr., the J. Bernard Jones Professor of Mechanical Engineering, will assume the position of associate dean for research and graduate studies at Virginia Tech's College of Engineering. O'Brien will begin work Aug. 20, succeeding F.W. Stephenson, who became the head of the electrical engineering department at the university July 1.

O'Brien has been a member of the mechanical engineering department for 20 years. He received his bachelor's and doctoral degrees from Virginia Tech and obtained his master's degree from Purdue University.

He also has worked as a consultant for organizations such as General Electric, Sverdrup Corp., Aerospace Research Corp., NASA Langley Research Center, Rosemount Corp. of Minneapolis and divisions of Kollmorgen Corp.

During the 1987-88 academic year, O'Brien was a visiting scientist at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Last year, he served as a Tech project director to build a mockup of the national aerospace plane for NASA. Mechanical and aerospace engineering students under O'Brien's direction designed and built the model for display at the 1989 Paris Air Show.

Wayne Clough, dean of Virginia Tech's College of Engineering, said he is pleased with O'Brien's acceptance of the position. "Dr. O'Brien is known as a fine teacher at the undergraduate level and he has advised 55 master's and doctoral thesis students to completion," Clough said.

In accepting the position, O'Brien noted that "the research and graduate study programs in Virginia Tech's College of Engineering are among the best in the country."

"It will be a privilege to work with Dean Clough, the engineering departments and the university to further develop these excellent programs," O'Brien said.

by CNB