Robert R. Gilruth

Robert R. Gilruth
Gilruth at NASA, 1965
Born	Robert Rowe Gilruth (1913-10-08)October 8, 1913 Nashwauk, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	August 17, 2000(2000-08-17) (aged 86) Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Minnesota, B.S. 1935, M.S. 1936
Occupation	Director of NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, now Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
Awards	ASME Medal (1970)

Robert Rowe Gilruth (October 8, 1913 – August 17, 2000) was an American aviation and space pioneer, and 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 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 manned space program, including the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.

Gilruth was born October 8, 1913, in Nashwauk, Minnesota, and moved to Duluth when he was nine years old. He graduated in 1931 from Duluth Central High School. As a teenager, Gilruth was fascinated by aeronautics and spent time building model airplanes. He was inspired to pursue a career in the field after reading about NACA’s Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Virginia. Gilruth received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Minnesota in 1935, and received his Master of Science degree in 1936. While there he was a member of the Professional Engineering Fraternity Theta Tau, of which he was later inducted as a Hall of Fame Alumnus.

In January 1937 Gilruth was hired at NACA’s Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, where he performed flight research. His research led to the NACA Report R755, Requirements for Satisfactory Flying Qualities of an Airplane, published in 1941, in which he defined a set of requirements for the handling characteristics of an aircraft. Until this point, no set of guidelines for pilots and aircraft designers existed.