Richard Wahls Mission Integration Manager, Sustainable Flight National Partnership, Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate NASA

Dr. Richard Wahls is the senior technical and strategy advisor to the Director of NASA Aeronautics’
Advanced Air Vehicles Program. He leads, manages, and technically contributes to
multidisciplinary fundamental and integrated systems research advancing the energy efficiency
and environmental compatibility of advanced transport aircraft, and to applied research and
development of tools, technologies, and concepts for all vehicle classes from subsonic through
supersonic speeds.

Dr. Wahls is a leader and technical authority in aerodynamics, ground testing, and the
development of advanced aircraft concepts and technologies. His personal research has
emphasized high Reynolds number aerodynamics and scale effects utilizing the unique
capabilities of the US National Transonic Facility, and the study of innovative aerodynamic
technologies and integrated aircraft configurations. He is the author or co-author of 78 technical
publications and has given invited presentations around the world. During his 29+ years at
NASA Langley Research Center, Dr. Wahls has served in increasingly broad, influential
leadership positions in national aeronautics programs.

Dr. Wahls is a Fellow of the America Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, where he is
currently a member of the Forums Advisory and Emerging Trends/Technologies Committees,
and a charter member of the AIAA Drag Prediction Workshop Organizing Committee currently
planning DPW-VII for June 2022. He was a 2017 recipient of the AIAA International
Cooperation and Sustained Service Awards.

Dr. Wahls earned his B.S. (1984), M.S. (1986), and Ph.D. (1989) degrees from North Carolina
State University in aerospace engineering.