Robert H. Liebeck

Career

Liebeck worked summers at the Douglas Aircraft Company, located in Santa Monica, California, until he joined the permanent staff in 1968. He remained with the company after its merger with McDonnell Douglas, which later merged with Boeing in 1997. He managed several of Boeing's airplane programs through which several advanced-concept aircraft were designed. As Senior Technical Fellow of the Boeing Company, he served as program manager of the company's blended wing body program. Liebeck was one of the first Senior Technical Advisors to the startup JetZero in Long Beach, CA, co-founded by one of Dr. Liebeck's early Blended Wing disciple, Mark Page.

Designs

Liebeck airfoils

Designs made by Liebeck during research for his doctoral thesis "Optimization of Airfoils for Maximum Lift", have been applied to the design of high-altitude aircraft. This class of airfoils has been used by NASCAR in its Car of Tomorrow which debuted in 2007.

Blended wing body

Boeing has invested in a blended wing body airplane program since 1993, a program which Liebeck managed. Run through Boeing's Phantom Works division, the program researched, designed and prototyped new aircraft designs which would reduce energy consumption and noise production. Initially funded by a grant from NASA of $90,000, the aircraft design moves away from the usual tube-and-wing design and instead has the wings blended into the body. This design was developed by Liebeck, in conjunction with other members of the research team. Liebeck's team released a remote-driven model, the X-48, in 1997, flight tested a three-engine version, the X-48B, in 2008-9 and a two-engine version, the X-48C in 2013.

Other designs

Liebeck's designs include propellers, wind turbines, wings for racing cars that have won the Indianapolis 500 and the Formula One World Championship, the wing for NASCAR's "Car of Tomorrow," the keel for the America³ yacht which won the 1992 America's Cup, and the wing for a World Championship aerobatic airplane.

Teaching career

Liebeck lectured in aerodynamics and aircraft design courses at several universities. Since 1995 he was a Professor of the Practice of Aerodynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he lectured in aeronautics.. Liebeck was also an adjunct professor at the University of California, Irvine from 2000 to 2025, where he taught aerospace engineering courses. He was also an adjunct professor teaching aerodynamics, flight mechanics and airplane design at the University of Southern California from 1977 to 2000.

Death

Liebeck died on January 12, 2026, at the age of 87.

Awards and recognition

Liebeck was presented with the Brigadier General Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager International Aeronautical Achievement Award in 2012. In 2011 Liebeck was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the College of Engineering at Illinois, an honor which "recognizes Illinois engineering alumni, and others affiliated with the college, who have made significant achievements in leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation of great impact to society". That same year he was presented with "Engineering the Future" award from the Henry Samueli School of Engineering for his work in aeronautics and contributions to the school.

Liebeck's awards and honors include:

• 2010 AIAA Honorary Fellow
• 2010 Daniel Guggenheim Medal for "distinguished engineering as evidenced by the conception and development of Liebeck airfoils and blended wing body aircraft."
• 1992 Member of the National Academy of Engineering for the development of high-lift, high-performance airfoils.
• Royal Aeronautical Society Fellow
• ASME Spirit of St. Louis Medal
• ICAS Innovation in Aerodynamics Award
• AIAA Wright Brothers Lecture
• AIAA Aircraft Design Award
• AIAA Aerodynamics Award