A nationally recognized aeronautics scientist and professor has been honored as the recipient of the Lakeshore High School Distinguished Alumni award for 2024.
The family roots of Joe Jewell, Ph.D., run deep in Southwest Michigan – much like his resume runs long with prestigious national scientific appointments and educational accolades.
A 2000 graduate of Lakeshore High School, and John Bogdanoff Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University, Jewell has authored more than 70 technical papers on everything from rocket propulsion and hypersonic aerodynamics to even a bestselling SAT study book. He’s served on NATO science and engineering panels and has a United States Top Secret security clearance.
Dr. Jewell is currently the Director of the Boeing-AFOSR Mach 6 quiet wind tunnel and HYPULSE reflected shock/expansion tunnel where he replicates MACH 40 conditions and studies the aerodynamics of spacecraft re-entering our atmosphere. But out of all the awards and recognition, Dr. Jewell says being named Lakeshore’s Distinguished Alumni is one of the most significant.
“It’s special because it comes from where I’m from, and because so many members of my family are Lakeshore alumni,” says Dr. Jewell. “It’s not an accident that I could work pretty much anywhere, but I choose to teach at a university that is two hours from Stevensville and that’s a big part of it for me. I really value coming from a small town. I think that is a core part of who I am. Both of my parents went to Lakeshore.”
Dr. Jewell’s father is the late Stephen Jewell, former long-time News Editor for the Herald Palladium. His mother, Suzanne Jewell (née Kramer) is the daughter of Dorothy Kramer, who graduated from what was then Stevensville High School. All four of Dr. Jewell’s grandparents also graduated from area high schools. In fact, Dr. Jewell says they can trace his Berrien County family ties back to a Cavalry Regiment in the Civil War. In all his work at the University of Oxford, and California Institute of Technology, Dr. Jewell never lost sight of the importance of what being from a small town has taught him, and he plans to share that with the graduating Seniors at Lakeshore High School.
“We only get one life to live and I’m happy mine has gone the way it has,” says Dr. Jewell. “I’d rather have that small-town background and the sense of continuity. The benefits of that stay with you forever. We have a close-knit community and I think that matters a lot. I think people can come from Lakeshore and do anything. The things that the Lakeshore Excellence Foundation does, and programs like the Math and Science Center have done for even longer, work to make up some of the gaps that might exist between someone from southwest Michigan and someone else from a big city.”
While he’s thankful to have benefitted from being part of Lakeshore’s Math and Science Center, which prepared him for his college experience, Dr. Jewell says it was music and the Band program that ultimately determined the trajectory of his life.
“I was involved in band all the way through school and Mrs. VK [VonKoenig] had a profound impact on me,” says Dr. Jewell. “When I look back at my school years, I think more of the home that music gave me, not just at Lakeshore with the Marching Band, but at other places. It’s always been important for me to have something besides academics, science, and engineering.
I don’t think you can be a whole person without some appreciation for and involvement in the Arts.”
Dr. Jewell was nominated for Lakeshore’s Distinguished Alumni award by former Lakeshore Band Teacher and Band Director, Lori VonKoenig, and former classmate and current Band Teacher, Band Director, and friend, Matt Pagel. Dr. Jewell chose VonKoenig to accompany him to the White House to meet President Bill Clinton in 2000, after winning the Presidential Scholar Award, where he represented Michigan as the top male high school graduate.
“Joe is one of the most distinguished alumni Lakeshore has ever had,” says VonKoenig. ”Joe was an outstanding percussionist and leader in our band program. His amazing accomplishments are the result of his incredible work ethic, outstanding character, and wonderful family.”
The Lakeshore Alumni Association and Lakeshore Excellence Foundation will recognize the 2024 Lakeshore Distinguished Alumni, Dr. Joe Jewell, at a special reception on Thursday, May 23, followed by an awards presentation during Lakeshore High School’s Graduation Ceremony, at 7:00 p.m., at Al Stockman Stadium in Stevensville.
