Gopal Gaonkar

Gopal H. Gaonkar (born 1936) is a professor of engineering at Florida Atlantic University, 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, Gaonkar completed his high school (1955) from the A. H. School, Bankikodla. Gaonkar earned a B.E. degree (1960) in Civil Engineering from B.V.B. College of Engineering & Technology (Now known as KLE Technological University), Hubli, a M.E. degree (1963) in Civil Engineering from VJTI, Mumbai and a D.Sc. degree (1967) in Helicopter Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to joining FAU, Gaonkar was a research professor at the University of Southern Illinois, Edwardsville and a professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. During the year 2009–2010, Gaonkar was a visiting professor at Washington University in St. Louis, his alma mater. He is married to Anasuya Gaonkar, and has two daughters. He has four grandsons and two granddaughters.