The Foundation has awarded a gift of $100,000 to establish an endowed professorship position on the faculty of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin (UT). The Foundation obtained the funds through a gift from a professional engineering institute, selected a name for the Professorship, and conveyed the gift to UT, along with a pledge to use its best efforts to raise another $100,000 in support of the Professorship over five years. Work has been initiated to meet that matching gesture; and the UT College of Engineering has agreed to join the Foundation in raising a third $100,000, for a total Professorship of $300,000.

Dr. Bob E. Schutz, P.E.

The FSX Professorship is held by Dr. Bob E. Schutz, P.E., Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics and Joe J. King Chair in Engineering. He is also Associate Director of the University of Texas Center for Space Research.

Dr. Schutz's research interests involve Earth satellite applications, including the Global Positioning System (GPS), precision orbit determination, precision attitude determination, orbital mechanics, mission planning and satellite geodesy. He has served on the College of Engineering faculty since 1969. He has two years of industrial experience and has published more than 100 technical articles and reports. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society, and the Science Team Leader for the NASA Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS).