Iowa State is welcoming a government official tonight who followed the Air Force’s motto, “Aim High.”

Secretary of the Air Force Sheila E. Widnall will speak tonight about the progress women have made in science and engineering. She is the first woman to head a branch of the military.

Widnall will speak in Room 220 of the Scheman Building at 8 p.m.

The Office of the President, Program for Women in Science and Engineering, Air Force ROTC and the Committee on Lectures are sponsoring the event.

Mary Ann Evans, director of Women in Science and Engineering, said Widnall is an outstanding speaker and wonderful role model.

“Widnall has been an advocate for women in science for many years,” Evans said.

Evans said Widnall has a reasonably close tie with Iowa State. “She was President [Martin] Jischke’s professor when he was in graduate school,” Evans said.

As secretary of the Air Force, Widnall oversees the recruiting, training and equipping of 380,000 men and women on active duty, 251,000 members of the Air National Guard and the Air Reserve, and 184,000 civilians of the Total Force. She is further responsible for planning, justifying and allocating the Air Force’s annual budget of $62 billion.

Widnall has been a faculty member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 28 years, and became an associate provost in January 1992. As a professor of aeronautics and astronautics, she is internationally known for her work in fluid dynamics, specifically in the areas of aircraft turbulence and spiraling airflows.

Widnall, who is from Tacoma, Wash., has focused on quality of life issues, modernization and acquisition reform and scientific and technological development.

“We are very honored to have her here,” Evans said.

Also speaking on campus today is Helen W. Lane, NASA’s chief nutritionist. She will give a research seminar called “Nutritional Issues Related to Space Flight” on Friday at 2:10 p.m. in 129 MacKay Hall. Lane will also show NASA videos Friday at 3:10 p.m. in 1010 LeBaron Auditorium.