George Low
| George M. Low | |
|---|---|
George M. Low
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| 14th President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | |
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In office Spring 1976 – July 17, 1984 |
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| Preceded by | Richard J. Grosh |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Berg |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 10, 1926 Vienna, Austria |
| Died | July 17, 1984 (aged 58) |
| Alma mater | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, B.S. 1948, M.S. 1950 |
George Michael Low (born George Wilhelm Low; June 10, 1926 – July 17, 1984) was a NASA administrator and 14th President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
He was born near Vienna, Austria to Artur and Gertrude Low (née Burger) who had a prosperous manufacturing business. He was educated in private schools in Switzerland and England. His father died in 1934. When Nazi Germany occupied Austria in 1938, Low's family — being Jewish — emigrated to the United States. In 1943, Low graduated from Forest Hills High School, Forest Hills, New York, and entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). He joined that college's Delta Phi fraternity. However, his college education was interrupted by the Second World War. From 1944 to 1946, he served in the United States Army. During his military service time, he became a naturalized American citizen, and legally changed his name to George Michael Low.
After military service, Low returned to RPI and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1948. He then worked at Convair in Fort Worth, Texas, as a mathematician in an aerodynamics group. Low returned to RPI late in 1948, however, and received his Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1950.
After completing his M.S. degree, Low joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) as an engineer at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio (later the Lewis Research Center and now the Glenn Research Center). He became head of the Fluid Mechanics Section (1954–1956) and Chief of the Special Projects Branch (1956–1958). Low specialized in experimental and theoretical research in the fields of heat transfer, boundary layer flows, and internal aerodynamics. In addition, he worked on such space technology problems as orbit calculations, reentry paths, and space rendezvous techniques.
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