Distinguished Alumnus: Daniel Maynes

By Lauren Matthews attended Snow College on an academic scholarship. With In a quote widely misattributed to Socrates but most his five closest high school friends, he attended most of the likely a variant of Plutarch’s, education is defined as “the home football games and celebrated when Snow College kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel,” meaning that won the 1985 National Championship. a life of learning doesn’t end at the classroom door. The life “I was undecided on a major, but knew it would be in of Dr. Daniel (Dan) Maynes (’89), a 2020 Distinguished STEM [science, technology, engineering, and math],” Dan Alumnus, reflects that adage: a life of curiosity and passion said. He described himself as a “fairly average student,” but that warms his community, family, and students. he “enjoyed hanging out at the student union and instiSnow College has long been a presence in Dan’s life. He tute building,” where he played ping-pong and foosball. grew up in Manti, as the youngest of 11 children. Ten of the Returning to sophomore year post-mission, he decided Maynes children, including Dan, attended Snow College. on his major: mechanical engineering. School became a “I think nine graduated,” he said. “This may be a record higher priority, and Dan worked harder and studied more number of brother/sister Snow alumni.” seriously. Dan’s childhood was strongly rooted in nature and the “When I returned to Snow, I took all of the outdoors. “My friends and I were often found riding and pre-engineering, physics, and math classes that I hadn’t repairing bicycles, fishing, hunting, camping, and particialready taken,” Dan recalled. “While taking these classes, I pating in most outdoor activities. In the evenings through often found myself helping other students, and soon several the summer, we could be found at the Manti city tennis/ of the students started to call me ‘Dr. Dan.’ This is what basketball courts. We played a lot of basketball, but we also planted the seed for me to consider getting a Ph.D. and spent a lot of time philosophizing.” becoming a professor.” When Dan was 19, he left Sanpete County to serve a After his sophomore year, Dan left academia and worked mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for an engineering firm (Rollins, Brown, and Gunnell in the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission. Prior to his mission, Dan Engineers), where he conducted engineering tests between Green River and Salina. He then returned Dan (far right, second row) is the youngest of 11 children - 10 of them attended Snow. to the classroom, studying at Utah State University, where he received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. During this time he worked for the Space Dynamics Lab (providing engineering support for a small military observation satellite) and Argonne National Laboratory (analyzing nuclear power plant operations). The U.S. Air Force funded his M.S. research, where he explored the aerodynamic characteristics of air-to-air missiles. During his time at USU, Dan met his sweetheart, Jilline Smith. Jilline hailed from Fairfield, California and transferred

Dan and friends at Snow College Homecoming.

Dan and his wife, Jillene, have five children.

to USU after two years at Ricks College. After they were married, Dan and Jilline lived in Salt Lake while Dan worked on his Ph.D. at the University of Utah. Upon completion of his degree they moved to Provo, where they have lived for the past 23 years.

Dan and Jilline have five children: Alex, Lauren, Mark, Isaac, and Anna. “As a family, we enjoy the outdoors and can often be found hiking, biking, climbing, backpacking, and road-tripping,” Dan said. “We love hiking slot canyons in Southern Utah, ascending mountains all over the west, and going to Lake Tahoe.”

Dan and Jilline share a love of fitness and endurance. They have both run several marathons and half-marathons. Dan has also ridden in the Logan to Jackson (LoToJa) bike race three times.

The two also share a love of learning. Jilline is a German research specialist and worked for Brigham Young University’s Center for Family History and Genealogy as a manager for the Nauvoo Community Project.

Dan joined the faculty at BYU in 1997, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in mechanical engineering. His general area of expertise is in “fluid mechanics and energy systems, aerodynamics of trains, and turbomachinery.”

Dan’s service in the classroom and beyond includes directing 45 sponsored research projects (totaling over $6.5 million in award money), advising 44 M.S. and Ph.D. students, and serving as associate chair and chair of the ME EN (mechanical engineering) department. He and his graduate students have authored over 150 technical journal and conference papers that report on the research he has directed.

Dan is beloved by his students. He has won the ME EN best teacher award multiple times. Students have extolled his clarity and professionalism: “Most upfront and clear professor I’ve ever had,” details one anonymous review on ratemyprofessor.com. More than one review cites that Dan memorizes the name of every single student. His decadeslong career is intensely impressive, but what is perhaps even more impressive than his own path of curiosity and passion is the curiosity and passion he fosters in others.

The Maynes family enjoys hiking and the outdoors.