Billy Vaughn Koen

Billy was born on May 2, 1938, in Graham, TX to Ottis Vaughn Koen and Margaret Branch Koen and grew up in Austin, TX where he graduated from Austin High School.

He dedicated his life to education, receiving two Bachelor’s Degrees, one in Chemistry and one in Chemical Engineering, from The University of Texas at Austin, a Master’s Degree in Nuclear Engineering from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, a Diplôme d’Ingénieur en Génie Atomique from L’institut National des Sciences et Techniques Nucléaires in Saclay, France, and an ScD from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Nuclear Engineering.

Billy enjoyed a 43 year career as a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and was also a visiting professor at Ecole Centrale in Paris, France and Tokyo Institute of Technology in Tokyo, Japan. He consulted frequently for both governments and industry. He leaves behind generations of minds influenced and lives impacted by his undergraduate teaching, undergraduate advising, mentoring of PhD candidates, research on novel educational techniques, and frequent travel for guest lectures all over the world.

Billy received numerous awards for both his teaching and his research. He pioneered the use of Artificial Intelligence in solving complex nuclear reactor safety issues and introduced the self-paced Personalized System of Instruction as a teaching method for engineering education. He was a member of many professional societies and honorary fraternities. He was a proud Fellow of the American Society of Engineering Education, having served many roles in the organization. He was also a member of the Rotary Club of Austin for his entire adult life.

One of Billy’s proudest professional accomplishments was the publication of his book, Discussion of the Method: Conducting the Engineer’s Approach to Problem Solving.

In his personal life, Billy was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. A passionate student of the vast diversity of human cultures, he traveled the world with his wife, both as a professional and after his retirement from teaching. For holidays he would meticulously polish the family silver and would set elaborate, decorative dinner tables. He took great joy in making some of the family’s traditional holiday dishes with his grandkids. As they got older, his two grandsons would always be seated at his sides as “patriarchs in training”.

Billy was preceded in death by his devoted wife of 58 years, Deanne Koen, from whom he only bore one week apart before joining her. He was also preceded by his parents and his sister, Beverly Ann LaGrone. He is survived by his sons Kent (Jennifer) and Douglas (Sarah) and his grandchildren Brady, Kennedy, Bailey, and Vaughn.

The family extends its heartfelt gratitude to the amazing staff at The Auberge - Cedar Park and Sonder Hospice for the compassionate care they provided to Billy. The family kindly requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made in Billy’s memory to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (alzfdn.org) or a charity of your choice.