All are invited to hear Dr. Hermann Viets, president of MSOE, deliver his “Last Lecture” on Thursday, April 30 at 5:30 p.m. in the Kern Center, 1245 N. Broadway.

The lecture also will be broadcast live online at: msoe.edu/hub-tv

Viets will give the sixth annual lecture in MSOE’s Last Lecture series, in which one member of the MSOE staff or faculty is invited to pass on their greatest and most succinct knowledge and life-experiences to the MSOE community. Viets, who will retire June 30, will reflect on his time at the university and also share his life experiences and accomplishments.

The purpose of the series is twofold: to recognize a faculty or staff member for his or her years of service and contributions to the university, and for those in attendance to learn what the speaker truly believes are the most important facets of their human life experiences and accomplishments. Students, faculty and staff have the opportunity to nominate speakers from a list of eligible individuals, and the speaker is chosen by the Student Life Office.

Viets is only the fourth president in MSOE’s 112-year history. During his 24 years at MSOE, the university has implemented several undergraduate international study-abroad programs, a baccalaureate two-degree program, a number of Bachelor of Science degrees and Master of Science degrees. The campus grew to 20 acres with the addition of several buildings including Krueger Hall, Rosenberg Hall, Humphrey House, Kern Center, Grohmann Museum, Viets Field and Grohmann Tower.

Viets received a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering, and both a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Astronautics, all from Polytechnic University in New York City and Farmingdale, Long Island. He was a visiting scientist, aerospace engineer and research group leader for Wright Patterson Air Force Base Aerospace Research Laboratories in Dayton, Ohio; lecturer at the Von Karman Institute in Brussels, Belgium; and a research associate at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, N.Y. His other academic experience includes serving as dean of engineering at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston; associate dean for research and professor at West Virginia University, Morgantown; and professor of engineering at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.