An award-winning inventor of novel fuel systems and associate fellow of AIAA, Bill Lear, Ph.D., taught for more than three decades in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), where he was deeply involved as a student mentor and faculty advisor. Since becoming associate professor emeritus and splitting his time between Gainesville and San Rafael, California, Lear has only increased his productivity. Still researching part time for UF, he is developing noise-suppression technology for NASA’s Urban Air Mobility program and is a driving force behind MAE’s outreach to engineering alumni around the globe.