Nguyễn Xuân Vinh

Nguyễn Xuân Vinh (January 1, 1930 – July 23, 2022) was a Vietnamese-American aerospace scientist and educator. Vinh was Professor Emeritus of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan, where he taught for nearly thirty years. His seminal work on the guidance, dynamics and optimal control of space vehicles and their interaction with the atmosphere played a fundamental role in space exploration and technological development.[4][5][6][7]

Nguyễn Xuân Vinh
Born(1930-01-01)January 1, 1930
Yên Bái, Tonkin Protectorate (now Vietnam)
DiedJuly 23, 2022(2022-07-23) (aged 92)
Costa Mesa, California, U.S.
Other namesNguyen Xuan Vinh
Alma mater
AwardsDirk Brouwer Award (2006)
Scientific career
Institutions
ThesisGeometrical studies of orbital transfer problems (1965)
Doctoral advisorAdolf Busemann[1][2]
Doctoral students
Military career
Allegiance France
 South Vietnam
 United States
Service/branchRepublic of Vietnam Air Force
Rank Colonel, Air Commander
Battles/warsVietnam War

Education

Xuân Vinh attended the French Air Force Academy at Salon de Provence where he specialized in Aeronautical Engineering. In 1954, he graduated from the nearby Aix-Marseille University in Mathematics and was commissioned as an officer. The following year, he qualified as a French Air Force multi-engine pilot.

In 1965, Vinh was the recipient of the first PhD in Aerospace Engineering conferred by the University of Colorado at Boulder supervised by Adolf Busemann.[2][1] In 1972, he was awarded a national doctorate in mathematics by the University of Paris, France.

Career and research

Following his return to Vietnam, Vinh was appointed Chief of Staff in the Republic of Vietnam Air Force in October 1957. In 1958, Vinh became the Commander and first Air Marshal of the Vietnam Air Force at the age of 28. He served as Air Force Commander until 1962 when he resigned and emigrated to the United States.

He joined the University of Michigan in 1968 as an associate professor of Aerospace Engineering and was promoted to the rank of professor in 1972. During his tenure at Michigan, Vinh chaired more than 20 doctoral committees. It is estimated that over 1,000 aerospace engineers studied under him.

Publications

As a scientist and educator, he has published three books[8] and more than 100 papers in mathematics, astrodynamics and trajectory optimization.[9]

In 1960, to promote a cadet recruitment program for the newly created Air Force Academy in Vietnam, he wrote a novel: Pilot’s Life, which became a best-seller (now in its sixth printing) and he was awarded the Republic of Vietnam’s National Literature Prize. The novel is in the form of a series of letters written by a pilot to his sweetheart.[10]

Awards and honors

In 1994, he was given the Mechanics and Control of Flight Award by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He was a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and a foreign member of the French National Academy of Air and Space.

In 2006, he won the Dirk Brouwer Award, awarded by the American Astronautical Society, for outstanding lifetime achievement in the field of space flight mechanics and astrodynamics.[11][12][13]

Death

Vinh died at 2:39 p.m. Saturday, July 23, at his home in Costa Mesa, California, at the age of 92.[14]

References
  1. "Nguyen Xuan Vinh at Academic Tree". academictree.org.
  2. Nguyễn Xuân Vinh at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  3. Longuski, James Michael (1979). Analytic theory of orbit contraction and ballistic entry into planetary atmospheres. nasa.gov (PhD thesis). University of Michigan. Bibcode:1979PhDT.........3L. OCLC 68288623.
  4. Hypersonic and Planetary Entry Flight Mechanics. 1980. Vinh, N. X.; Busemann, A.; Culp, R. D. University of Michigan Press
  5. "Nguyen Xuan Vinh – A Life In Hypersonic Flight". trs.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory Technical Report Server. February 1, 2018.
  6. Optimal Trajectories in Atmospheric Flight 1981. Vinh N. X. , Studies in Astronautics 2, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam.
  7. Flight Mechanics of High-Performance Aircraft. 1993. Nguyen X. Vinh. Cambridge Aerospace Series. ISBN 0-521-34123-X
  8. "Giáo sư Nguyễn Xuân Vinh nói về những đóng góp của mình trong ngành không gian". Radio Free Asia (in Vietnamese). Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  9. "Nguyen Xuan Vinh – Publications". academictree.org. The Academic Family Tree, Building a single, interdisciplinary academic genealogy. September 12, 2021.
  10. "The Eagle's Wings (Toan Phong Nguyen Xuan Vinh)". thienlybuutoa.org.
  11. "The first Vietnamese to receive the Dirk Brouwer Award". english.vietnamnet.vn. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012.
  12. "2006 AMERICAN ASTRONAUTICAL SOCIETY AWARD Nguyen Xuan Vinh, aerospace scientist and military man". Archived from the original on January 5, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
  13. "Nguyen Xuan Vinh | Top Asian American Professionals | GOLDSEA". goldsea.com.
  14. "Professor Nguyen Xuan Vinh, former commander of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force, died at the age of 92". nguoi-viet.com/.
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