Fletcher awarded 2005 James Watt Gold Medal by U.K. society

Leroy S. "Skip" Fletcher, an ASME Honorary Member and past president, has been awarded the prestigious James Watt International Gold Medal by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) of the United Kingdom.

Skip Fletcher

The Watt Medal was established in 1936 to commemorate the bicentennial of the birth of James Watt, the father of the science of thermodynamics. The award is given every other year to a mechanical engineer whom IMechE deems "worthy of the highest award which the Institution of Mechanical Engineers can bestow." The Watt Medal was presented to Fletcher at a ceremony on Oct. 26 at IMechE headquarters in London.

Fletcher, a Regents Professor and the Thomas A. Dietz Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has also served as ASME Senior Vice President for Education and as a member of the Board of Governors. He has been active in many different committees within the Society, and currently serves on the Mechanical Engineering Magazine Editorial Advisory Board, and the Committee on Honors. He held the office of ASME President in 1985–86.

Fletcher joined Texas A&M in 1980 and has held a number of positions at the university, including associate dean of the Dwight Look College of Engineering and the Halliburton Professor of Mechanical Engineering. From 1985–88, Fletcher also was associate director of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, the engineering research agency of Texas and a member of The Texas A&M University System.

Previously, Fletcher had served as professor and chairman of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia, and as a professor of aerospace engineering and associate dean at Rutgers University.

A registered professional engineer in Arizona, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia, England and Australia, Fletcher has written more than 200 journal and conference papers and six books. He also holds five patents.

Fletcher is a Fellow of ASME, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Astronautical Society, and the American Society for Engineering Education.

 

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