Profile of Frank J. Malina (1912-1981)

In 1936, Frank Malina was a graduate student at Caltech who worked with a small group of men, under the guidance of professor Theodore von Kármán, to develop and test rocket motors. In December 1938, Malina was asked to present a paper on the application of rocket propulsion to aircraft, to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Committee on Air Corps Research, which responded with a $1,000 grant to GALCIT and an additional $10,000 six months later. From 1941 to 1944, Malina was the chief engineer of the project, which developed and successfully tested solid-fuel Jet-Assisted Take Off engines (JATOs) in 1941 and went on to develop and test other propellants and liquid-fuel JATOs.

In 1944, after reports that German scientists were developing rockets for military use, US Army Ordnance established a contract with Caltech to produce guided missiles. While von Kármán was in Washington, DC, Malina administered JPL, and from 1944 to 1946 he served as Acting Director. In 1946, he left JPL. The following year he moved to Paris and began working for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), eventually becoming head of the Division of Scientific Research. In 1953, he resigned that post to begin a successful career as a kinetic artist.