Nguyen Xuan Vinh PhD, DSc

Professor Emeritus of Aerospace Engineering

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2140

Residence :

2002 Carignan Way

San Jose, CA 95135

(408) 270 1357

Education :

- Aeronautical Engineer, French Air Force Academy, France, 1954

- Rated military instrument flying pilot, French Air Force, 1955

- Licence eøs sciences et Diploâme d'EÙtudes Supeùrieures de Sciences Matheùmatiques, Universiteù de Marseille, 1954.

- Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, 1965

- Doctorat d’État ès Sciences Mathématiques, Université de Paris VI, 1972.

Honors and Awards :

- Excellence in Teaching Award, College of Engineering, U of Michigan, 1984

- Excellence in Research Award, College of Engineering, U of Michigan, 1990

- Member, International Academy of Astronautics, elected 1986

- Foreign Member, Académie Nationale de l’Air et de l’Espace, France, elected 1984

- Excellence in Achievements Award, Michigan Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian American Affairs, 1987

- Asian American Hall of Fame, NASA Johnson Space Flight Center, Houston, 1989

- Recognition Award as keynote speaker on Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day, University of Michigan-Flint, 1991

- Distinguished Service Award, American Citizens for Justice, 1992

- Appreciation Award, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1992

- Appreciation Award, University of Oklahoma, 1997

- Citation of Commendation, State of Oklahoma Senate, 1997

- Citation of Commendation, State of Oklahoma House of Representatives, 1997

- “Mechanics and Control of Flight Award”, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1994

- Excellence 2000 Award, United States Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce, 1996

- Charles E. Foster Lecturer, School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, 1997

- Honorary Pilot, Nationalist Chinese Air Force (1960), and Royal Thai Air force (1962).

- Numerous awards presented by Vietnamese communities and Vietnamese professional societies in the United States, Canada, Norway and Australia and recognition as keynote speaker and distinguished lecturer by The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Japan National Defense Academy, and the University of Tokyo, Japan, Chinese Aeronautical Industrial Development Center, Taiwan National University, National Cheng Kung University and National Tsing-Hwa University in Taiwan, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace and Alcatel Space Industries in France, Republic of Korea Agency for Defense Development in Taejon, South Korea, and Brazilian Aerospace Technical Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Professional Career :

Upon graduation from the French Air Force Academy with a commission as officer pilot on multi-engine aircraft and graduate degrees in Mathematics in 1955, Professor Vinh returned to Vietnam to serve his country in various assignments. He was named Chief-of-Staff of the Vietnamese Air Force in 1957 and became its Commander in 1958 at the young age of 28. He resigned his position in 1962 and went to the United States to pursue a scientific career. He received a Ph.D. degree in Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado in 1965 and a National Doctorate in Mathematics at the University of Paris in 1972. He joined the University of Michigan in 1968 as an associate professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and was promoted to the rank of full professor in 1972. During his tenure as a research scientist and educator until 1999 when he was named professor emeritus, he has published three books and over one hundred technical papers in Mathematics, Astrodynamics and Trajectory Optimization. He also served as associate editor for Astrodynamics for Acta Astronautica, the archives journal of the International Academy of Astronautics for 20 years since 1979 until his retirement. Besides his contribution to the education of aerospace engineers going through the highly ranked University of Michigan, he has chaired doctoral committees for thirty students, many of them are now senior professors at prestigious American Universities or leading scientists in the industries, in the U.S. and abroad. For his effort, he received both the Excellence in Teaching and Excellence in Research awards from the University College of Engineering. In 1994, he won the prestigious Mechanics and Control of Flight Award, a medal prize presented annually by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Other significant honors consisted of his election for membership to the International Academy of Astronautics and the French National Academy of Air and Space and his selection as one of the awardees for the 1996 Excellence 2000 Award presented by the United States Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce in Washington D.C. He is listed in several biographical publications including “American Men and Women of Sciences” and “Marquis Who’s Who in America”.

Representative Publications:

· N.X.Vinh, 1970, "Recurrence Formulas for the Hansen Developments", Celestial Mechanis, Vol 2,

64 - 76.

· N.X.Vinh, 1972, "Sur la Stabilite des Points d'Equilibre Triangulaires dans le Probleme Restreint Elliptique", Celestial Mechanics, Vol. 6, 305 - 321.

· N.X.Vinh, 1973. "General Theory of Optimal Trajectory for Rocket Flight in a Resisting Medium" Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, 11(2), 189-202.

· N.X.Vinh, 1973, "Sur les Solutions Periodiques du Mouvement Plan de Libration des Satellites et des Planetes", Celestial Mechanics, Vol. 8, 371 - 403.

· F. Frostic and N.X.Vinh, 1976, "Optimal Aerodynamic Control by Matched Asymptotic Expansions". Acta Astronautica , Vol 3, 319 - 332.

· N.X.Vinh, N.A. Bletsos, A.Busemann, and R.D.Culp,1977, "Flight with Lift Modulation inside a Planetary Atmosphere", AIAA J. 15, 1617 - 1623.

· J.P.Marec and N.X.Vinh, 1977, "Optimal Low-Thrust, Limited Power Transfers Between Arbitrary Elliptical Orbits", Acta Astronautica, Vol. 4, 511 - 540.

· N.X.Vinh, J.M.Longuski, A. Busemann and R.D.Culp, 1979, "Analytic Theory of Orbit Contraction due to Atmospheric Drag", Acta Astronautica, Vol. 6, 697 - 723.

· N.X.Vinh and J.M.Hanson, 1985, "Optimal Aeroassisted Return from High Earth Orbit with Plane Change", Acta Astronautica, 12(1) 11 - 25.

· N.X.Vinh and J.R.Johannesen, 1985, "The Darboux Point and the Conjugate Point on Optimal Deorbit for Reentry Trajectories", Acta Astronautica, 12(10), 791 - 802.

· N.X.Vinh and P.Lu, 1988, "Chebyshev Minimax Problems for Skip Trajectories", The JAS, 36(1- 2), 179- 197

· D.J. Scheeres and N.X.Vinh. 1991. "Linear Stability of a Self-Gravitating Ring", Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy Vol 51,83-103.

· D.J.Scheeres and N.X.Vinh,1993."The Restricted P + 2 Body Problem,"Acta Astronautica 29,237-248.

· T.Takehira, N.X.Vinh and P.T.Kabamba, 1998, "Analytical Solution of Missile Terminal Guidance", Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 21(2), 1342 - 1348.

· N.X.Vinh, P.T. Kabamba and T.Takehira, 1998, "Eact Solution for Three-Dimmensional Interception of a Maneuvering Target", The JAS, 40(3) 283 - 305.

· L.O.Ferreira, N.X.Vinh and D.T.Greenwood, 2000, "Critical Cases of Ballistic Entry: New, Guidance -Oriented, Higher-Order Analytic Solutions", Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 37(5) 630 - 637.

· D.J. Scheeres, F.Y. Hsiao, and N.X. Vinh. 2003. "Stabilizing motion relative to an unstable orbit: Applications to spacecraft formation flight," Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics 26(1), 62-73.

Books:

· Hypersonic and Planetary Entry Flight Mechanics , by N.X.Vinh, A.Busemann and R.D.Culp, pp 358, The University of Michigan Press, USA, 1980.

· Optimal Trajectories in Atmospheric Flight , by N.X.Vinh, pp 402, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co. Amsterdam, The Netherland, 1981.

· Flight Mechanics of High-Performance Aircraft , by N.X.Vinh, pp 382, Cambridge University Press, U.K. 1993. Paperback edition in 1995.

· Dr. Vinh is also known to the Vietnamese as the author of the best seller "Pilot's Life", winner of the 1961 Vietnam National Literature Award.