Werner J.A. Dahm has since 2010 been the ASU Foundation Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Arizona State University, where he leads the Laboratory for Turbulence and Combustion and is the Founding Director and Chief Scientist of the Security and Defense Systems Initiative. He is also Emeritus Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan, where he served on the engineering faculty for 25 years.

Previously he was the Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force in Headquarters Air Force, serving in the Pentagon as the direct science and technology advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff. He has served on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board since 2005, including as Chair of the Board from 2014-2017, and has served on numerous task forces of the Defense Science Board. He has also served on advisory boards for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and NASA, and in numerous defense-related reviews and advisory roles.

Dr. Dahm is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is an author of over 200 refereed technical articles, conference papers, and technical publications, a holder of six U.S. and international patents, and has given over 260 technical presentations, including over 190 invited, plenary, and keynote lectures worldwide, on topics dealing with mechanical and aerospace engineering and defense science.