Bret P. Van Poppel, Ph.D.
Bret P. Van Poppel serves as Professor of Practice, Department of Aerospace Engineering in the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. A recently retired Brigadier General in the U.S. Army, he formerly served as Professor, USMA (PUSMA) and Department Head in the Department of Civil & Mechanical Engineering (D/CME) at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point. In that role, he was one of the Army’s uniformed scholars and helps lead the Military Academy, its Academic Program, and the two ABET accredited and nationally ranked engineering programs in D/CME. During his 17 years as a faculty member at USMA, Dr. Van Poppel invested in the areas of Teaching and Curriculum Development, Scholarship and Technical Research, Leadership and Faculty Development, Service and Institutional Governance, and Student Development and Advisement. He served as the Executive Director of West Point’s Technical Scholars Program and the Head Officer Representative (Faculty Athletic Representative) for the Army West Point Men’s Swimming and Diving teams.