Biography of Theodore von Kármán (1881-1963)

Theodore von Kármán was arguably one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century. He was born on May 11, 1881 in Budapest, Hungary, and at an early age showed an aptitude for math and science. In 1908, he received a Ph.D. in engineering at the University of Göttingen in Germany. In March of that year, he saw an airplane for the first time and was drawn to the physical principles of flying machines. Thus began his lifelong interest in aerodynamics.

Von Kármán worked in a variety of academic posts, was in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I, worked in private industry doing research, and built a world renowned reputation by lecturing extensively in various countries. He was invited to the United States by Robert A. Millikan to advise California Institute of Technology (Caltech) engineers on the design of a wind tunnel. After the wind tunnel was completed in 1928, von Kármán stayed on to join Caltech's newly established Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory (GALCIT). In 1930, he became Director of GALCIT. The department gained prominence when numerous West Coast aircraft companies used the wind tunnel for testing models, aided by Caltech engineers, scientists, and students.

Rocket experiments began at Caltech with graduate student Frank J. Malina in 1935. Encouraged by von Kármán, Malina and a small group of men eventually developed solid and liquid propellants. Their work attracted the attention of the US Army Air Corps, and earned a series of grants for research and testing of rocket motors. In 1942, von Kármán and five other scientists formed Aerojet Engineering Corporation, to accept contracts for building jet engines. In 1944, after reports that German scientists were developing rockets for military use, US Army Ordnance established a contract with Caltech to produce American counterpart weapons. The project became known as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with von Kármán as JPL's first Director.

Von Kármán spent much of his time in Washington, DC, and abroad, visiting other scientists and advising the United States government on the future military applications of air power. In 1949, he resigned from Caltech and JPL to work at the Pentagon where he chaired the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board until 1954. The board charted the theory of post-war military systems in Where We Stand (which in 1945 predicted supersonic flight, ICBMs, nuclear warheads, and SAM missiles) and the 12-volume Toward New Horizons, introduced by von Kármán's "Science: The Key to Air Supremacy." In March 1952, he became the chair of the NATO Advisory Group for Aeronautical Research and Development (AGARD). In 1954, he received the Astronautics Engineer Achievement Award and in 1960, he received the Goddard Memorial Medal for liquid rocket work. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy presented him with the first National Medal of Science.

Four days before his 82nd birthday, von Kármán died of a heart attack in his sleep.