AsMA Honors AFRL Program Manager

  • Published
  • By Maria Callier
  • Office of Scientific Research
ARLINGTON, Virginia --  Dr. Terence J. Lyons, program manager for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, received the Aerospace Medical Association's prestigious Louis H. Bauer Founders Award. Named for AsMA's founder, this award is presented annually in recognition of the most significant contributions to aerospace medicine. Candidacy is by nomination, with award recipients selected by the AsMA Awards Committee based on their individual accomplishments impacting aerospace medicine and related disciplines.

Dr. Lyons is also a recent recipient of the Mayo Clinic-sponsored Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to him during AsMA's 80th Annual Scientific Meeting, Honors Night (held in Los Angeles, California). The lifetime award honors his dedication for the past 35 years to aerospace research in areas such as the development of countermeasures for spatial disorientation and g-induced loss of consciousness, as well as the investigation of modafinil, a new performance-enhancing drug. Dr. Lyons lifetime achievements also encompass notable international research efforts in Europe, Asia, Spain, and Africa. 

In his present role as AFOSR PM, Dr. Lyons manages a research portfolio in sociocultural modeling consisting of approximately 25 research projects. Previously (from 1997 until 2000), he served as a liaison officer in life sciences and chemistry at the lab's Asian Office of Aerospace Research and Development.  Following this assignment, Dr. Lyons served as AOARD director for the next 5 years, during which time he led an international multidisciplinary team of scientists, administrative officers, and visiting scientists. He has been instrumental throughout his career in assessing a wide range of emergent technologies (e.g., materials, nanotechnology, chemistry, physics, aerospace, and information science) and, meanwhile, has established important interactions between Air Force scientists and research communities across Asia and the Pacific Rim.

As the largest professional organization representing aviation, space, and environmental medicine, AsMA provides expertise to federal and international agencies on a diversity of subjects, including aviation and space medical standards, the aging pilot, the physiological stresses of flight, and so on. The efforts of Dr. Lyons and other AsMA members have substantially advanced the progress of flight safety technology and man's overall adaptation to adverse environments.