Bion Pierson, a noted aerospace engineering researcher and member of the Department of Aerospace Engineering faculty for 43 years, has passed away.
Pierson was a department alumnus, receiving a B.S. from Iowa State in 1961 and M.S. in 1963. He earned a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan in 1967 and joined the Iowa State aerospace engineering faculty shortly afterward.
His primary teaching and research interests were in vehicle dynamics, trajectory analysis, and flight control systems. His time at Iowa State included a one-year appointment at Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands. He retired from the Iowa State aerospace engineering department as Emeritus Professor in 2010 and was inducted into the department’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2016.
He published more than 40 journal articles and during his career was involved in research projects for Boeing, General Electric, TRW Systems, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. In 1980 he founded the international journal Optimal Control Applications and Methods, which is still published today by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Pierson loved nature, the outdoors and writing and co-taught an Iowa State honors seminar in wilderness writing. A trumpeter, he was an accomplished musician and founded The Collegiate Brass, an ensemble that played at many civic events and with services conducted through his church community. He also performed with other ensembles, including the Ames Municipal Band and the Central Iowa Symphony.
A memorial service will be held on a future date at Collegiate United Methodist Church in Ames, Iowa. View Pierson’s full obituary, which includes information on memorials.