Contact: Phil Hearn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--David L. Lawrence, director of Mississippi State's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, is a new Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
An MSU aerospace research professor whose earlier career in the industry spanned more than 35 years, Lawrence becomes part of an elite group of only 150 SETP Fellows worldwide. The society works to promote air safety and aeronautical advancement.
"David Lawrence has done an outstanding job in building and leading the Raspet Flight Laboratory, and we are fortunate to have someone with his talents at MSU," said Kirk Schulz, dean of the university's Bagley College of Engineering.
"Dave's selection as a Fellow is an international recognition for a lifetime of accomplishment in the field of aviation and aerospace engineering," Schulz added.
Lawrence received a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from St. Louis University in 1965 and a master's in civil engineering from MSU. His flight-test career began in 1977 while pursuing additional graduate studies at MSU's Raspet lab, where he worked as a research pilot under chief test pilot Gifford Bull.
Later in his career, Lawrence became chief test pilot for Piper Aircraft Corp., flying the T-35 Pillian training aircraft for the Chilean Air Force. He also served in a similar position for development and spin-testing of the experimental plane.
After retiring as president of Tracor Flight Systems Inc. in 1998, he became Raspet director in 2001. He continues to test-fly university research aircraft.
"I am humbled by my selection (as a Fellow)," Lawrence said. "There are less than 200 active Fellows in SETP in the world today, so to be included among this group is a test pilot's dream."
Located at Bryan Field, Starkville's municipal airport, Raspet is a nationally recognized design and development resource for high-performance sailplanes and full-scale, turbine-powered aircraft. With a solid research-and-testing history dating to the early 1950s, the department of aerospace engineering facility continues to specialize in lightweight composite technology.
Named in honor of its founder and first director, the late August Raspet, the lab provides MSU students a multi-disciplinary breadth of experience in the areas of aerospace, mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering.
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