		Professor Emeritus Paul H. Keister Prof. Keister was born Feb. 16, 1907 in Marion county, Indiana. He received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in 1929, along with a commission as 2nd Lt. in the Field Artillery Reserve. He spent the next seven years as a Mechanical Engineer with NACA at Langley Field, Virginia where he co-authored NACA TN 362, "Lift and Drag Characteristics as Determined in Flight." During 1936-37 he served as a Jr. Aeronautical Engineer in the Materiel Division at Wright Field. From 1937-39 he was a graduate student at MIT receiving the Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering in 1939, and from 1939 to 1942 he was an Assistant Professor of Aeronautical Engineering at West Virginia University. He served in the U. S. Army Air Corps form 1942-1946 as an Aeronautical Engineer and Project Officer at the Aircraft Laboratory, WPAFB. His work included assignment in the European Theater where he was responsible for installing instrumentation on fighter aircraft to record accelerations in combat. This work resulted in a classified report on aircraft combat loads. During 1945-46 he was a part-time instructor at the U.S. Army Air Corps Engineering School. Professor Keister was the first member of the Mechanics Department in the reestablished Institute of Technology and, with Professors Marco and Lewis and Captain Dailey, one of the first four faculty of the new school. He organized the initial courses in the department and recruited three faculty members for the department. Prof. Keister helped develop the first engineering postgraduate and undergraduate engineering programs. His prior academic and military engineering experience served him and the school well in establishing sound programs. He was instrumental in the development of the first graduate curricula particularly the Air Ordnance (Air Weapons) program. He was the faculty advisor for many class sections of that program and for several years taught the most advanced weapons courses to the air weapons classes. He served the school in many capacities: professor, class advisor, acting department head, and as a member of faculty council committees. Prof. Keister's tenure at AFIT (1946-1976) spanned the years of growth of the AFIT School of Engineering from undergraduate non-accredited programs through the development and accreditation of the Ph.D. program. Prof. Keister was a member of Tau Beta Pi engineering scholastic honor society, the American Society of Engineering Education, and the American Defense Preparedness Association. Prof. Keister made substantial contributions to AFIT and its programs through his teaching, curricula, and course development. In his years of dedicated service he was always pleasant and professional -- a gentleman and a scholar. He is remembered as a positive influence on all that knew him.

Professor Emeritus Paul H. Keister

Prof. Keister was born Feb. 16, 1907 in Marion county, Indiana. He received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in 1929, along with a commission as 2nd Lt. in the Field Artillery Reserve. He spent the next seven years as a Mechanical Engineer with NACA at Langley Field, Virginia where he co-authored NACA TN 362, "Lift and Drag Characteristics as Determined in Flight." During 1936-37 he served as a Jr. Aeronautical Engineer in the Materiel Division at Wright Field. From 1937-39 he was a graduate student at MIT receiving the Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering in 1939, and from 1939 to 1942 he was an Assistant Professor of Aeronautical Engineering at West Virginia University.

He served in the U. S. Army Air Corps form 1942-1946 as an Aeronautical Engineer and Project Officer at the Aircraft Laboratory, WPAFB. His work included assignment in the European Theater where he was responsible for installing instrumentation on fighter aircraft to record accelerations in combat. This work resulted in a classified report on aircraft combat loads. During 1945-46 he was a part-time instructor at the U.S. Army Air Corps Engineering School.

Professor Keister was the first member of the Mechanics Department in the reestablished Institute of Technology and, with Professors Marco and Lewis and Captain Dailey, one of the first four faculty of the new school. He organized the initial courses in the department and recruited three faculty members for the department. Prof. Keister helped develop the first engineering postgraduate and undergraduate engineering programs. His prior academic and military engineering experience served him and the school well in establishing sound programs. He was instrumental in the development of the first graduate curricula particularly the Air Ordnance (Air Weapons) program. He was the faculty advisor for many class sections of that program and for several years taught the most advanced weapons courses to the air weapons classes.

He served the school in many capacities: professor, class advisor, acting department head, and as a member of faculty council committees. Prof. Keister's tenure at AFIT (1946-1976) spanned the years of growth of the AFIT School of Engineering from undergraduate non-accredited programs through the development and accreditation of the Ph.D. program. Prof. Keister was a member of Tau Beta Pi engineering scholastic honor society, the American Society of Engineering Education, and the American Defense Preparedness Association.

Prof. Keister made substantial contributions to AFIT and its programs through his teaching, curricula, and course development. In his years of dedicated service he was always pleasant and professional -- a gentleman and a scholar. He is remembered as a positive influence on all that knew him.