D. Dane Quinn was awarded the B.M.E. degree from Georgia Tech in 1991 and, in 1995, a Ph.D. from Cornell University in the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. He is currently a Professor on the faculty of The University of Akron in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

His research interests lie in the areas of applied dynamical systems and mechanics, and have been supported by NSF, DOE, NASA, and industrial partners. Specifically, considering the effects of resonances in nonlinear systems with applications to rotordynamics, spacecraft dynamics, and the mechanisms by which energy is transferred through mechanical systems. This work has recently been extended into the area of vibration-based energy harvesting and passive damping in structural systems. Since joining the University of Akron, he has initiated studies of adaptive optical systems, differential collision models, research into structural health monitoring, and the mechanics of nano-scale structures such as graphene sheets and nanotubes. Also, he has ongoing collaborations with researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in the area of structural dynamics, modeling the dynamic response and structural dissipation induced by mechanical interfaces such as lap joints and bolted connections. Finally, he has worked in several related areas, including the modeling, simulation, and control of thermo-acoustic instabilities in aeropropulsion systems, celestial mechanics, nonlinear thermoelastodynamics, nonlinear control systems, and the evolution of virulence in age-dependent populations.

He has published over 40 papers in archival journals and has presented his work at numerous national and international scientific meetings. Finally, he has served as an Associate Editor for the ASME Journal of Vibration and Acoustics, the ASME Journal of Computational and Nonlinear Dynamics, Mathematical Problems in Engineering, and on the editorial board of Nonlinear Dynamics. In 2005 he was selected as the recipient of the Tau Beta Pi Outstanding Teacher Award for the College of Engineering, and was made a Fellow of ASME in 2013. He currently lives in Akron, Ohio with his wife Kristen, children Kaelyn, James, and Ian, and his dogs, Marley and Lilly.