David G. Hull died on 1 January 2026. He was 88 years old.
Hull earned a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University, a master’s degree from the University of Washington — while also working at The Boeing Company — and a Ph.D. from Rice University.
He spent nearly 50 years as a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to teaching and mentoring students, Hull published 61 papers, two textbooks, and four book chapters. He also presented 76 papers at technical conferences and was the principal investigator or co-principal investigator for grants and contracts exceeding $2.5M. His research focused on the application of flight mechanics and optimization to the determination of optimal trajectories and guidance laws for aerospace vehicles. In addition, he held several research appointments at Sandia National Laboratories, continuing his engagement with applied research.
Hull also served the profession as Associate Editor of the Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications for more than 30 years and was named Editor-in-Chief in 2010, serving in this role through 2019. He was a Professor Emeritus and received numerous awards for teaching and research, including the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Departmental Teaching Award and Faculty Excellence Award and a AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Conference Best Paper Award. He was named a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society in 2005 and held the M.J. Thompson Regents Professorship in Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin.
