David H. Allen is currently Director of the Texas A&M University Center for Railway Research, a US DOT Funded University Transportation Center, and Professor in the Ocean Engineering Department at Texas A&M University since 2018. Prior to that, he served as the Dean of Engineering at The University of Texas-Pan American from 2010 to 2013. He previously served as Dean of Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 2002 to 2010. Prior to that, he was the Stewart & Stevenson Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Director of International Student Experiences at Texas A&M University, where he was a member of the faculty for twenty-one years. Dr. Allen received B.S., Master’s, and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering from Texas A&M University. His research is focused on the mechanics of inelastic solids, with emphasis on viscoelasticity, plasticity, viscoplasticity, computational mechanics, damage and fracture mechanics, and coupled thermal/structural field problems. He has published nearly two hundred archival papers on these subjects. He has received numerous awards, including the Texas A&M University Association of Former Students Distinguished Teaching Award (1999), the Halliburton Award for Distinguished Research Achievement (1988), the Texas A&M University Association of Former Students Distinguished Research Award (1989), the Texas A&M International Achievement Award (1996), and the AMOCO Distinguished Teaching Award (1997). Dr. Allen is a Fellow in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, as well as the Society of Engineering Science, and is also an Associate Fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is also a member of numerous professional societies. He served as President of the Society of Engineering Science in 1997. In 2008 Dr. Allen received the International Michael P. Malone Award from APLU, as well as the T. Pian Award from ICCES. Recently, he was inducted into the Texas A&M University Aerospace Engineering Academy of Distinguished Graduates. Dr. Allen is the author of six textbooks: Introduction to Aerospace Structural Analysis (with W.E. Haisler, 1985), Introduction to the Mechanics of Deformable Solids (2013), How Mechanics Shaped the Modern World (2014), and Modeling and Design of Flexible Pavements and Materials (to appear with D.N. Little and A. Bhasin, 2017), How Mechanics Shaped the Modern World, Second Edition (2023), and The Definitive Guide to Study Abroad – Everything You Need to Know Before You Go (2024). He is also the author of nine novels.