2006 Distinguished Alumnus

   Mr. Robert A. K. Mitchell

Robert Mitchell was selected as a Distinguished Alumnus in 2006.  He graduated in 1973 with a master’s degree in astronautical engineering, served in the Royal Air Force, making him one of AFIT’s first international students. After leaving the Royal Air Force he worked in Ontario , Canada , from 1976 to 1978, for Spar Aerospace and served as Manager of Systems Engineering. He continued his contribution to the space program from 1978 to 1987 with Teledyne Brown Engineering, in Huntsville , Alabama . From 1988 until the present he has been the driving force in High Altitude Unmanned Air Vehicle development, first as the president of Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical, a legacy Northrop Grumman company, and then as Vice President of Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems in San Diego, California. As such, he was the guiding force in building the Global Hawk. His vision was realized as the Global Hawk became the most significant contributor of battle field information during combat in Afghanistan and Iraq over the last five years. Mitchell received the AIAA's Prestigious Reed Aeronautics Award in April 2002 for the development and international deployment of the Global Hawk System. The organization credits Mitchell with being "the nation's single most important figure in building the UAV revolution into reality."