Darrell Pepper

I served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO from 2011-2013. I am still Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. I served as a Senior ASME Legislative Fellow in Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office in Washington, DC where I handled science and engineering issues. I was Chairman of the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 1996-2002 and then Dean of the College of Engineering. I obtained my B.S.M.E. (1968), M.S.A.E. (1970), and Ph.D. (1974) degrees from the University of Missouri-Rolla. I was commissioned in the Corp of Engineers (Army) in 1968, and eventually reached the rank of Captain. Following graduation and the Army, I worked for Du Pont at the Savannah River Laboratory in Aiken, SC, where I held various technical and managerial positions. In 1987 I became Chief Scientist of the Marquardt Company, an aerospace propulsion company located in Van Nuys, CA, where I worked on the National Aerospace Plane Program. I co-founded and was CEO of Advanced Projects Research, Inc., an R&D company involved with development and application of computational methods in science and engineering. I also taught undergraduate and graduate engineering courses at California State University-Northridge. In 1992, I joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In 2001, I founded Nevada Energy and Environmental Systems, a consulting R&D company, which we ultimately closed in 2016. I have served on serve on the boards of six companies, and was a member of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation. In 2007, I was elected a member of the Cosmos Club, which is located in Washington, DC. I have published over 350 technical papers on fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and environmental transport topics, and authored/co-authored eight books on advanced numerical modeling and indoor air dispersion. In 2008, I was awarded the international Eric Reissner Medal for work in computational methods and in 2010 I was awarded the Harry Reid Silver State Medal. In 2011 I was awarded the Distinguished Service medal from AIAA and in 2012 was awarded the AIAA Energy Systems Award. I received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 from ICCES. In 2008, I was elected a member of the ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission and was appointed a member of the Board of Directors in 2013. In 2009, I was elected a member of the MS&T (University of Missouri - Rolla) Academy of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineers.

I can still remember the events and circumstances associated with our senior trip to Washington, DC and to the World's Fair in New York. I'm amazed that we made it back alive and in one piece. I recently read my diary that I made of the trip - Doug Bensinger and I lived on slices of pizza for a week.