Gopal H. Gaonkar is a professor of engineering at Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public, coeducational, research university located in , United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in Fort...

, Florida. His research interest is in Helicopter dynamics, Floquet theory and Large-Scale and parallel computing. Gaonkar is a recipient of American Helicopter Society's Fellow Award in 2005, was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Helicopter Society, and a member of the AHS Technical Council.

Born and raised in Hanehalli village

Bankikodla-Hanehalli

Bankikodla-Hanehalli , twin villages of Uttar Kannada district are neighbouring villages in a valley in the south western section of Karnataka, India. Together they form a community of people from different castes and religions....

, Gaonkar completed his high school (1955) from the A. H. School, Bankikodla

Anandashram High School, Bankikodla

Ananadasharm High School , one of the oldest high schools in Uttar Kannada, was a private school located in Bankikodla-Hanehalli. The school was founded by M.N.Kulakrni and Datta master Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins from Bankikodla-Hanehalli...

. Gaonkar earned a B.E. degree (1960) in Civil Engineering from B.V.B. College of Engineering & Technology

BVB College of Engineering & Technology

The B.V. Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and Technology in Hubli, Karnataka was founded in 1947. It started as a polytechnic in Gadag but was moved to Hubli in 1948 and simultaneously upgraded to an engineering college. It offers 12 undergraduate and eight postgraduate programs, besides M.Sc....

, Hubli, a M.E. degree (1963) in Civil Engineering from VJTI

Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute

Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute is a premier regional engineering and technical institute, located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, and one of the oldest engineering colleges in Asia.India has 26 states. Founded in 1887, it was previously known as the Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute,...

, Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 and a D. Sc. degree (1967) in Helicopter Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...

. Prior to joining FAU, Gaonkar was a research professor at the University of Southern Illinois, Edwardsville

Edwardsville, Illinois

Edwardsville is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,293. It is the county seat of Madison County and is the third oldest city in the State of Illinois. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, then Governor of the Illinois...

 and a professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science

Indian Institute of Science

Indian Institute of Science is a research institution of higher learning located in Bangalore, India. It was established in 1909.-History:After a chance meeting between Jamsetji N...

, Bangalore

Bangalore

Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

. During the year 2009-2010, Gaonkar was a visiting professor at Washington University in St. Louis, his alma mater.