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Posted Wednesday, May 06, 2009
On Friday, May 1, the AFIT Academic Library and the AFRL Technical Library was dedicated as The D'Azzo Research Library in honor of a distinguished educator and research scientist who served the USAF for more than sixty years.
Dr. John “Jack” D’Azzo served Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the country as an outstanding engineer, educator, and technology leader. He began his career in 1942 as an officer in the Army Air Corps and continued as Professor, Department Head, and ultimately Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management.
The dedication ceremony started with remarks from Dr. Paul J. Wolf, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Graduate School, who welcomed Dr. D’Azzo’s family members in attendance: son Dennis D’Azzo, nephew Arnold Humphrey, niece Roseanne Person, and nephew Dominic Humphrey. Wolf noted that “It’s not too often that one has the opportunity to dedicate a facility in the name of an individual. Such a special occasion commemorates, celebrates, and provides a tribute to the significant achievements of that individual, and today’s dedication is no different.”
Brig. Gen. Paula G. Thornhill, AFIT Commandant, further emphasized that idea, explaining how the past is our guide and the future is our present. “When we asked how we really pay tribute to some of the profound work that goes on here at AFIT,” she said, “your father, your uncle, is the one who came to the top of the list. And he came to the top for some very human but very specific reasons that boiled down to dedication, especially when you talk about the past being our guide. Jack D’Azzo was a man who was dedicated to his family. He was dedicated to his students; he was dedicated to his faculty; he was dedicated to the Institute. And at the end of the day, when you look at how long he served, he was dedicated to our military and to our nation. He is a guide and will always be a guide to all of us. So the past truly is our guide, in Dr. Jack D’Azzo.”
“In terms of the future being our present,” Thornhill continued, “if you look at the work that he did, he saw a need to do research and to write on automatic control systems at a time when the whole concept of automatic control systems was just really emerging. He was able, with his colleagues, to capture that and then share it, continuing to push the boundaries of research and development in engineering and science. And that’s truly where, when you think about what we do here at AFIT and what we do at the Air Force Research Laboratory, the future is our present. Every day we are trying to figure out what the unknown unknowns are, make them known, and then learn about them.”
Gen. Thornhill concluded her remarks on a theme of partnership. “From what I’ve learned about him, I think Dr. D’Azzo would also be delighted today to know that this is part of a partnership. There has always been terrific partnership between the Institute and the Air Force Research Laboratory, and this is a joint venture. Our library is a joint research library and it is something that will continue to grow as our research efforts continue to grow. I think that’s something that would please your father and your uncle greatly and that he would be encouraging us to find additional ways to partner when it comes to making sure that education and research continue to work hand in hand.”