Glenn Lightsey, a professor in the Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department at The University of Texas at Austin, has been selected as a member of the university's Academy of Distinguished Teachers.
Established in 1995, the Academy of Distinguished Teachers comprises approximately 5 percent of tenured faculty at the university. Honorees are awarded the title of "University Distinguished Teaching Professor" and serve for the duration of their tenure advising the president and provost on matters related to the university's instructional mission and teaching effectiveness.
Lightsey, a professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering, is the fifth faculty member from the school's Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics to be inducted into the academy.
"Our department has a strong commitment to excellence in teaching and I'm delighted that this award recognizes Glenn's outstanding contributions both in the classroom and the Satellite Design Lab," said Philip Varghese, chair of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics.
Lightsey has advised more than eight Ph.D. graduates, 21 master's degree students and more than 70 undergraduates in the areas of orbital mechanics, navigation and aviation control since he joined the university in 1999. He is the founder and director of the Satellite Design Lab at The University of Texas at Austin where he designs, builds and operates satellites with his students and currently serves as the Cockrell School's Strategic Planning Area Champion for Space and Earth Engineering.
In 2011, Lightsey received the American Society for Engineering Education's John Leland Atwood Award for outstanding aerospace engineering education, and the William David Blunk Memorial Professorship for outstanding undergraduate teaching at The University of Texas at Austin.
Lightsey will be honored at a special ceremony along with six other university faculty members in the fall.
