Mary Jackson Lecture: Fluid Mechanics with Ivett Leyva
Mar 9
A Wondering Fluid Mechanics Scientific Career is Ivett Leyva’s title for description of her remarkable career, including preventing rocket explosions, testing propulsion and enhancing scientific understanding of hypersonic flight. Noon, Eastern Daylight Time (06:00 HT).
Ivett A. Leyva, Ph.D., P.E.
Associate Dean for Research, Fort Worth Campus, College of Engineering Arthur McFarland Professor·Texas A&M Fort Worth
Ivett A. Leyva became the Associate Dean for Research at the new Texas A&M Fort Worth campus in August 2025. She is tasked with starting a new engineering research enterprise in this new campus. She was head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering from 2021 to 2025. Previously, she worked at the Air Force for 15 years. For 6 years, she was the program officer for Hypersonic Aerodynamics at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) and prior to that she was a researcher at the AFRL Rocket Lab working on liquid rocket instabilities. Her technical expertise is in hypersonic aerodynamics and liquid rocket engines. Ivett holds a bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree from Caltech. Her Ph.D. was in Aeronautics. Ivett has six patents and has authored numerous papers and two book chapters. She is a fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Royal Aeronautical Society, and the Air Force Research Laboratory. She is a National Associate of the National Research Council of the National Academies, and a recipient of a Civilian Achievement Medal and two meritorious Civilian Service Awards and Medals from the Air Force.
See More
The Mary Jackson Named Lecture is given in honor of Mary Jackson (1921–2005), who became the first black female aerospace engineer at NASA in 1958. The lecture is jointly sponsored by the Royal Aeronautical Society and AIAA.