Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. -- Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) will induct two new AEDC Fellows June 25 at the annual Fellows banquet at the Arnold Lakeside Club. 

The new Fellows are Dr. David Elrod and Wade Stevenson. They join 56 others selected for this honor since the program began in 1989. 

The AEDC Fellows Program honors individuals who have made substantial and exceptionally distinguished contributions to the nation's aerospace ground testing capability at AEDC. All military, civilian and operating contractor/subcontractor Team AEDC members, presently or once assigned to AEDC, are eligible. 

Candidates must have personally made sustained, notable, valuable and significant contributions in aerospace ground testing while at AEDC. Inductees are honored annually on a date to coincide with General of the Air Force Henry H. "Hap" Arnold's birthday (June 25th) for whom the award, the test center and the installation are named. 

Dr. David Elrod
During his 29-year career at AEDC, Dr. Elrod's groundbreaking technical innovations significantly streamlined the test and evaluation acquisition process. His demonstrated technical, management and people skills led to progressive technical management roles, culminating in his current role as the first general manager to have responsibility for all contractor activities since 1980. 

Central to Dr. Elrod's technical management success is his breadth of knowledge of all of AEDC's technical research, development, test and evaluation disciplines and the 
integration of support required to accomplish activities in each area. 

His accomplishments range from design and development of non-intrusive flow diagnostics, electro-optic instrumentation systems, microprocessor design and programming to establishment of a first-of-its-kind facility for the mission simulation testing of space sensors. 

His technical management talents produced successes in test project management, facility acquisition program management, team development and management of technology and positive organizational change. 

Wade Stevenson
The earliest years of Stevenson's 40-year career at AEDC were devoted to testing of solid propellant rocket motors in test cell T-3 in support of DoD, NASA and commercial space programs of that era. 

He served as project team member and/or project manager responsible for testing more than 50 rocket motors including 11 JPL Apogee motors for the Advanced Technology Satellite, a COMSAT INTELSAT IT communication spacecraft motor and several upper stage motors for the Delta Launch Vehicle. 

Additionally, Stevenson was also an early contributor to the center's initiative to move into the Analysis and Evaluation (A&E) arena.
Stevenson retired from AEDC in 2004.