Dr. Donald Paul Honored As Distinguished Senior Professional

  • Published
  • By Ms. Robyn Dinwiddie
  • Air Vehicles
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Dr. Donald B. Paul, chief scientist of Air Force Research Laboratory's Air Vehicles Directorate, earned the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Senior Professional. Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton A. Schwartz presented Dr. Paul with the prestigious award during an April 17, 2009, ceremony held at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery. Distinguished Senior Professional is the highest annual award for senior-level/senior technical career professionals. It is bestowed upon Federal executives who have demonstrated a consistent level of extraordinary achievement. Only 1% of career Senior Executive Service professionals can receive this honor.

During his nearly 40 years of distinguished service, Dr. Paul has made many contributions to AF science and technology, particularly in the fields of structures, hypersonic flight, and space access. He has also been an active leader in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Research and Technology Organization and led the Air Force Space Command/ AFRL Responsive Space Advanced Technology Study. In addition, Dr. Paul championed the development and implementation of AFRL's Focused Long-Term Challenges, a construct for coordinating the lab's planning and research goals with long-term Department of Defense needs. First implementing the FLTC concept at a division level within the Air Vehicles Directorate, he grew the concept to a directorate-wide practice before introducing it at the enterprise level. AFRL's subsequent acceptance and adoption of the FLTC process prompted an AF S&T investment of $2 billion per year--arguably the single most significant change within AFRL since its formal establishment in 1997.

Already a key member of the National Aerospace Plane program, Dr. Paul continues to build upon this role in his ongoing leadership of an integrated government/industry team focused on developing and demonstrating critical technologies for survivable aircraft and responsive space access. Recognizing the need to leverage the unique knowledge and expertise of those outside the AF and DoD, Dr. Paul oversaw the establishment of three collaborative centers between the Air Vehicles Directorate and top US universities. Dr. Paul has a proven record of leadership, mentoring, and coalition building. He has persistently forged strong partnerships both with other AFRL directorates and with other DoD agencies, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and industry. These efforts ensure availability of the best intellectual resources to work collaboratively in solving AF challenges.

In addition to this esteemed award, Dr. Paul holds a Michigan State University Distinguished Alumni Award, Dayton (Ohio) and Michigan State University Outstanding Engineer Awards, the 2004 Meritorious Presidential Rank Award, and the AFRL Commander's Cup. Dr. Paul is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Royal Aeronautical Society.