Regents Professor Ronald Adrian's research interests are the space-time structure of turbulent fluid motion and the development of techniques, both experimental and mathematical, to explore this structure. Techniques to which he has made fundamental contributions include laser Doppler velocimetry, particle image velocimetry, and the optimal estimation method for analysis of turbulent flows.

Professor Adrian is a member of the United States National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Physical Society, the America Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the American Academy of Mechanics. Adrian's awards include the 2001 Nusselt-Reynolds Prize for experimental fluid mechanics research, the 2002 AIAA Aerospace Measurement Technology Award for his role in developing the particle image velocimeter, the 2005 Fluid Dynamics Prize from the American Physical Society, the 2007 Fluid Dynamics Award given by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the 2010 Fluids Engineering Award given by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the 2009 Miegunyah Distinguished Fellowship, given by the Univ. Melbourne, the 2010 Tewksbury Fellowship, given by the Univ. Melbourne Univ, and the 2010 Leonardo Da Vinci Award, given by the International Symposium for Flow Visualization. He is listed by ISI Web of Science as one of the 250 Most Highly Cited Researchers in Engineering.