Prof. Hodges obtained the Bachelor of Science degree (with high honors) in Aerospace Engineering in June 1969 from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He attended Stanford University under a NASA Trainee fellowship, receiving the Master of Science degree in June 1970 and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in January 1973, both from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
From 1970 until 1986 he was a Research Scientist at the U.S. Army Aeroflightdynamics Directorate, located at NASA Ames Research Center. From 1981–1986 he served as Group Leader of the Theoretical Group, Rotorcraft Dynamics Division and taught graduate courses at Stanford. His work in rotorcraft dynamics and aeroelasticity became internationally known during this time. He led a team of other scientists and engineers in the twenty-man-year development of GRASP, first released in 1985. GRASP is a hybrid multi-body/finite element based program that performs aeroelastic, aeromechanical, and structural dynamic analyses of rotorcraft with arbitrary rotor/hub configurations. Many of the distinctive features of GRASP are presently being used in RCAS, the Army’s current comprehensive rotorcraft modeling program.
Prof. Hodges has been on the faculty of the School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech since the fall of 1986. His present research interests include analytical and computational structural mechanics, aeroelasticity, structural dynamics, asymptotic methods, dynamics and computational optimal control. He has presented papers and seminars at many technical conferences and universities across the United States, Western Europe, South America, and Asia. He has advised 36 PhD and 42 MS graduates. To his credit thus far he has five book chapters, five books, over 225 technical papers in refereed journals, and two U.S. Patents. In recent years his research group at Georgia Tech has been developing methods for accurate analysis and stress recovery in composite beams (including helicopter rotor blades), plates, and shells. The computer programs VABS (for composite beams) and VAPAS (for composite plates and shells) are in use around the world. These codes facilitate the accurate modeling and accurate stress recovery of internally complex structural members using generalized forms of standard reduced-order models for beams, plates, and shells. Also, the code NATASHA was developed for nonlinear aeroelasticity analysis of HALE aircraft and was selected by DARPA for use by contractors in its VULTURE program.
Prof. Hodges has received several awards in his professional career. These include his election to Fellow in four professional societies: The American Academy of Mechanics, The American Helicopter Society (AHS), The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). In addition he has been awarded a NASA Technology Utilization Award (1975), two NASA Tech Brief Awards (1976 and 1990), a U.S. Army Commendation Medal (1977), the prestigious U.S. Army Research and Development Achievement Award (1979), the Director’s Award for Technological Achievement (1984), six Official U.S. Army Commendations (1980-1986), two SAIC Technical Paper Awards (1990 and 1998), three Sigma Xi Research Awards (1990, 1995, 2003), the Sigma Xi Sustained Research Award (2011), the AIAA Ashley Award for Aeroelasticity (2013), the AHS Alexander A. Nikolsky Honorary Lectureship (2014), the ASME Spirit of St. Louis Medal (2015), and the AIAA Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Award (2018). He serves on the Editorial Boards of Journal of Mechanics of Materials and Structures, the Journal of Fluids and Structures, and the journal Nonlinear Dynamics. He also served as an Associate Editor for the AIAA Journal, as a member of the AIAA Structural Dynamics Technical Committee, multiple terms as a member of the AHS Dynamics Committee, on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Solids and Structures, and as an associate editor of the Journal of Engineering Mechanics. Finally, In May 2020, he was designated Professor Emeritus.
Prof. Hodges and his wife Margaret reside in Dunwoody, Georgia. They have been married 50 years and have five sons, 16 grandsons, and 12 granddaughters.
