Dr. John Wendt joined the ASEB / NRC as a part-time, off-site Senior Program Officer in 2002. His main activities have involved proposal evaluations for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the State of Ohio.

He retired in 1999 as Director of the von Karman Institute (VKI) for Fluid Dynamics. The VKI is a NATO-affiliated international postgraduate and research establishment located in a suburb of Brussels, Belgium. Three departments constitute the core of the VKI's activities: Aeronautics/Aerospace, Industrial and Environmental Fluid Dynamics, and Turbomachinery and Propulsion. The hallmarks of the VKI are the ability to combine numerical and experimental methods, close contacts with industry, training in the methodology of problem resolution, and an international atmosphere in which "training in research through research" can take place. As Director, Wendt’s main responsibility was to ensure the continued excellence of the Institute's teaching and research programs by providing effective leadership and administrative and financial management.

Wendt’s career at the VKI began as a post-doctoral researcher in 1964. He served as Head of the Aeronautics/Aerospace Department and Dean of the Faculty prior to becoming Director in 1990. His research interests were rarefied gas dynamics, transonics, high angle of attack aerodynamics and hypersonic reentry including major inputs to the European Hermes space shuttle program in the 1980’s. Wendt has served as a consultant to the US Air Force, NATO, and the European Space Agency. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace (AIAA).

Wendt received a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, and MS and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Astronautical Sciences from Northwestern University.