John Junkins

This article is about the American academic. For the English actor and writer, see John Junkin.

John L. Junkins (born May 23, 1943) is an American academic and a distinguished professor of aerospace engineering in the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University^[1] specializing in spacecraft navigation, guidance, dynamics, and control.^[2][3] He holds the Royce E. Wisenbaker Endowed Chair at Texas A&M University and also serves as the Founding Director of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, since its founding in December 2010.^[4] On November 24, 2020, Junkins was announced as the interim President of Texas A&M University starting January 2021.^[5] He was the interim president until May 31, 2021.

John L. Junkins
President of Texas A&M University
Interim
In office January 1, 2021 – May 31, 2021
Preceded by	Michael K. Young
Succeeded by	M. Katherine Banks
Director of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study
Incumbent
Assumed office 2011
Preceded by	Office established
Personal details
Born	(1943-05-23) May 23, 1943 (age 80) Oakman, Georgia, U.S.
Spouse	Elouise Click ​ (m. 1965)​
Children	2
Alma mater	Berry College Auburn University (B.AE.) University of California, Los Angeles (M.S.,Ph.D.)

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents on March 5, 2021, named M. Katherine Banks as the sole finalist to be president of Texas A&M University. On May 27, 2021, Junkins issued a farewell message welcoming his successor as the 26th President of Texas A&M University. After his term as interim president, he returned to his positions as professor in the College of Engineering and continues as the director of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study.

Early life and education

John Junkins was born on May 23, 1943, in Oakman, Georgia, to George Manley Junkins (1917-2008) from Carter's Quarter, Georgia, a World War II veteran, machinist, mechanic, and welder, and Alice Lenell Junkins (née Searcy; 1922–2008) from Gordon County, Georgia, who worked in the textile industry.^[6] He is one of five siblings, and one of his sisters, Faye Gibbons, is an author and an inaugural inductee of the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame. Although both his father and mother dropped out of school at the sixth and fourth-grade, respectively, they were bright, and understood education was vital for their children to succeed.^[7]

Junkins grew up near the town of Dalton, Georgia on his family's five-acre farm, where he later attended North Whitfield High School and participated in the football and track and field teams.^[6] He began to be interested in Aerospace Engineering after watching the artificial satellite Sputnik make history during his Freshman year of high school in 1957.^[7] This interest was reinforced after his high school track coach, Crossland Clegg, told Junkins that while he may have been talented at track, he could tell Junkins was more talented academically than physically, during the spring of his senior year.^[6][7] Also, later the next year, after hearing President John F. Kennedy's "We choose to go to the Moon" speech, Junkins elected to pursue aerospace engineering.^[6]

After high school, he wanted to attend Georgia Institute of Technology but was lacking some required classes that he was not able to take at his rural high school. He initially attended Berry College in Rome, Georgia, where he was active on the track team, winning the GIAC championship in pole vault. In the spring of 1962 he was accepted to transfer to Georgia Institute of Technology. His college roommate, who was also on the Berry track team, convinced him to come along on a visit to Auburn University, where Junkins was instantly impressed. During his initial visit in August 1962, he called the registrar on a Sunday afternoon, after looking for his number in a phone book. After explaining his desire to attend Auburn, he was invited to the registrar's home where he sent in his application on the spot.^[7]

Soon after, he was accepted, and he began the Aerospace Engineering program in September 1962, later on receiving a degree in Aerospace Engineering (B.AE. 1965)^[3][8] at Auburn. He then pursued his graduate studies at University of California, Los Angeles (M.S. 1967 and Ph.D. 1969).^[3][8] His dissertation was on a novel gradient projection technique.^[9]

Career

While an undergraduate at Auburn University, Junkins began his career at the age of 19 as a co-op student during the Apollo program at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Huntsville, Alabama, working with Wernher von Braun.^[7] He also supported the final three Apollo missions (Apollo 15, Apollo 16, and Apollo 17) during the early 1970s and his inventions have led to commercial products including navigation sensors for autonomous aerial refueling of aircraft, and for pointing navigation of spacecraft based on star pattern recognition.^[10]
While he attended graduate studies at UCLA, he maintained full-time employment at McDonnell-Douglas, where he supported numerous launches of satellites aboard Delta rockets.
At the age of 26 and after receiving his doctorate from UCLA, Junkins went to work at the University of Virginia as an assistant professor.^[3][8]
At 34, he left UVA to join the faculty of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University as a full professor.^[3][8]
In 1985, Junkins accepted an offer from Texas A&M University to become the first endowed professor in the College of Engineering.^[3][8] Junkins was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1996 for contributions to flight mechanics and flexible vehicle control.^[2] He is also a member of the International Academy of Astronautics^[11] and an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.^[12] A prolific graduate student mentor, he has directed over 60 PhD students. Half of his PhD students became professors, giving rise to several generations of PhD descendant offspring.^[13] Over his career, he has developed a significant body of scholarship. In addition to seven technical books (see Works below), he has about 600 journal and conference publications. ^[14]

After being recommended by the Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp on November 24, 2020,^[15] Junkins released a statement.^[5]

"My job will be to help navigate Texas A&M safely along our presently planned course and work with existing senior leadership and the faculty to solve problems as they arise until our new president takes the helm, hopefully by June."

Junkins became the interim President of Texas A&M University on January 1, 2021. His term as interim President ended on May 31, 2021. He faced three unusual challenges: the COVID pandemic (not a single death), campus unrest following the George Floyd murder and an extraordinary winter storm. After his term as interim president, Junkins returned as distinguished professor of Aerospace engineering and Director of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study.^[16]

Career chronology

• 1970–1977, University of Virginia^[3][8]
• 1978–1985, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University^[3][8]
• 1985 – present, Texas A&M University^[3][8]

Awards and honors

• 1983 Mechanics & Control of Flight Award, AIAA^[17]
• 1987 Dirk Brouwer Award, AAS^[18]
• 1988 J. Leland Atwood Award, AIAA^[19]
• 1990 Pendray Aerospace Literature Award, AIAA^[20]
• 1997 von Karman Lectureship in Astronautics Award, AIAA^[21]
• 1999 Frank J. Malina Astronautics Medal, IAF^[22]
• 2003 Tycho Brahe Award, ION^[10]
• 2006 Aerospace Guidance, Navigation, and Control Award, AIAA^[23]
• 2011 Life-Time Achievement Medal, ICCES^[24]
• 2019 Robert H. Goddard Astronautics Award, AIAA^[25]
• 2021 Kay Bailey Hutchinson Award, TAMEST^[26]
• 2022 Kay Bailey Hutchinson Award Video, TAMEST^[27]

Works

• Junkins, John L. (1978). An Introduction to Optimal Estimation of Dynamical Systems. Leyden, The Netherlands: Sijthoff-Noordhoff. ISBN 90-286-0067-1.
• Junkins, John L.; Turner, James D. (1986). Optimal Spacecraft Rotational Maneuvers. New York, NY: Elsevier. ISBN 0-444-42619-1.
• Junkins, John L.; Kim, Youdan (1993). Introduction to Dynamics and Control of Flexible Structures. New York, NY: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. ISBN 1-56347-054-3.
• Schaub, Hanspeter; Junkins, John L. (2009). Analytical Mechanics of Space Systems, Second Edition. New York, NY: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. ISBN 978-1-60086-722-4.
• Puneet, Singla; Junkins, John L. (2009). Multi-resolution Methods for Modeling and Control of Dynamical Systems. New York, NY: CRC Press - Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-1-58488-769-0.
• Crassidis, John L.; Junkins, John L. (2011). Optimal Estimation of Dynamic Systems,Second Edition. New York, NY: CRC Press - Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-1-4398-3985-0.
• Junkins, John L. (2012). Engineering Your Academic Career. Raleigh, N.C.: lulu.com. ISBN 978-1-105-31585-5.

References

1. Chang, Kenneth (February 18, 2012). "For Space Mess, Scientists Seek Celestial Broom". The New York Times. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
2. "NAE Website – Dr. John L. Junkins". nae.edu. National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
3. (PDF). wvu.edu. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
4. "About the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study". Texas A&M University. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
5. Underwood @hannahbunderwoo, Hannah (November 24, 2020). "Professor John L. Junkins to serve as interim president of A&M after Michael K. Young's departure". The Battalion. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
6. Anderson, Ryan (April 21, 2021). "Whitfield County native leads Texas A&M through pandemic as interim president". Dalton Daily Citizen. from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
7. Winton, Lauren (May 26, 2021). "Auburn Engineering alumnus, interim president of Texas A&M, tells his Auburn story". Auburn University Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
8. Schnettler, Tim (2011). "Space Junkie". Texas A&M Engineer Magazine. pp. 20–26. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
9. "Curriculum Vitae, John L. Junkins" (PDF). Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station. March 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
10. . Institute of Navigation. Archived from the original on December 28, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
11. "International Academy of Astronautics – Membership List" (PDF). iaaweb.org. International Academy of Astronautics. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
12. "AIAA AEROSPACE SPOTLIGHT AWARDS GALA TO CONFER TOP HONORS" (PDF). aiaa.org. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
13. "John L. Junkins Bio". Hagler Institute for Advanced Study. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
14. "John Junkins Publications". Google Scholar. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
15. Texas A&M University System [@tamusystem] (November 24, 2020). "2/2 Chancellor Sharp is recommending Dr. John L. Junkins, a Distinguished Aerospace Engineering professor and Founding Director of the Hagler Institute of Advanced Study, to serve as Interim President until the new President is selected. Read more: tx.ag/TAMUInterimPresident" (Tweet). from the original on April 10, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2023 – via Twitter.
16. "Hagler Institute for Advanced Study". Hagler Institute for Advanced Study. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
17. "Mechanics & Control of Flight Award". AIAA. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
18. "Dirk Brouwer Award". American Astronautical Society. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
19. "J. Leland Atwood Award". AIAA. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
20. "Pendray Aerospace Literature Award". AIAA. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
21. "von Karman Lectureship in Astronautics Award". AIAA. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
22. "Frank J. Malina Astronautics Medal". International Astronautical Federation. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
23. "Aerospace Guidance, Navigation, and Control Award". AIAA. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
24. "ICCES Lifetime Achievement Medal" (PDF). ISQE. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
25. "Robert H. Goddard Astronautics Award". AIAA. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
26. "Kay Bailey Hutchinson Award". TAMEST. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
27. "Kay Bailey Hutchinson Award Video". TAMEST. Retrieved May 23, 2023.

External links