ENGINEER

Robert R. Gilruth

1913 - 2000

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Robert Rowe Gilruth (October 8, 1913 – August 17, 2000) was an American aerospace engineer and an aviation/space pioneer who was the first director of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center, later renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. He worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) from 1937 to 1958 and its successor NASA, until his retirement in 1973. He was involved with early research into supersonic flight and rocket-powered aircraft, and then with the United States human spaceflight program, including the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 17 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 15 in 2024). Robert R. Gilruth is the 361st most popular engineer (up from 366th in 2024), the 12,087th most popular biography from United States (up from 13,092nd in 2019) and the 43rd most popular American Engineer.

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Among ENGINEERS

Among engineers, Robert R. Gilruth ranks 358 out of 389Before him are Ivan Artobolevsky, John Lombe, and Kevin Warwick. After him are Nicholas Tombazis, Tom Dowd, Otmar Szafnauer, Robert Zubrin, David S. Johnson, Tom Kilburn, Pat Fry, Mike Gascoyne, and Mike Coughlan.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1913, Robert R. Gilruth ranks 399Before him are Robert Lowery, Angus Wilson, Jack Fairman, Frans Peeraer, Peter Glenville, and Duane Swanson. After him are Peter Doherty, Kurt Dossin, Sid James, Coral Browne, Charlie Barnet, and R. S. Thomas. Among people deceased in 2000, Robert R. Gilruth ranks 342Before him are Francis Lederer, Marceline Day, Malcolm Bradbury, Duane Swanson, Spyridon Belokas, and Alfred Kuchevsky. After him are A. H. Albut, Robert Cormier, Ann Doran, Alla Rakha, Jimmie Davis, and James Grogan.

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Among ENGINEERS In United States

Among engineers born in United States, Robert R. Gilruth ranks 42Before him are Gordon Bell (1934), Beatrice Hicks (1919), Hugh Latimer Dryden (1898), T. Keith Glennan (1905), and Chuck Peddle (1937). After him are Tom Dowd (1925), Robert Zubrin (1952), David S. Johnson (1945), John Houbolt (1919), Douglas H. Wheelock (1960), Henry M. Morris (1918), and Ted Jensen (1954).