List of aerospace engineers

This is a list of notable aerospace engineers, people who were trained in or practiced aerospace engineering.

See also List of engineers – for lists of engineers from other disciplines.

A

• A.P.J Abdul Kalam, (born October 15, 1931) – Ex-President of India
• Michael P. Anderson – died in Columbia disaster
• Neil Armstrong, (1930–2012) First man on the moon
• Ron Ayers – Designer of ThrustSSC, the first land based vehicle to break the sound barrier.

B

• V. P. Barmin, designer of the rocket launch complex
• Frank Barnwell, (1880–1938) chief engineer Bristol Aeroplane Company
• Charles Bolden - NASA Administrator
• Frank Borman, (born March 14, 1928) First man circled the moon
• Ludwig Bölkow Me 262
• Wernher von Braun, (1912–1977), German rocket pioneer
• Yvonne Brill, (1924–2013), Electrothermal Hydrazine Thruster (EHT)
• Adolf Busemann Swept wing

C

• Sir Sydney Camm
• Sir George Cayley – notable for his research in aerodynamics
• Roy Chadwick
• Roger Chaffee – Apollo 1 fire victim
• Kalpana Chawla (1961–2003)- died in Columbia disaster
• Vladimir Chelomei
• Juan de la Cierva – Inventor of the autogyro
• Henri Coandă – Inventor of the jet engine
• Nicholas Comper (1897–1939) designer of the Comper Swift
• Philip M. Condit Former CEO of Boeing
• Scott Crossfield
• Glenn Curtiss

D

• Werner Dahm
• Alberto Santos Dumont, (1873–1932) Inventor of the dirigible and aeronautics pioneer
• Marcel Dassault, (1892–1986)
• Serge Dassault (1925–)
• Leonardo da Vinci, (1452–1519)
• Satish Dhawan, (1920–2002)
• Paul Bernard Dilworth, (1915–2007)
• Heini Dittmar, (1911–1960) first man faster than 1000 km/h (Me163A and Me163B test pilot) and first sailplane world champion 1937.
• Claudius Dornier
• Iain Dowie
• Sir George Dowty
• Pedro Duque

E

• Joe Engle
• Walter Extra

F

• Charles Richard Fairey, founder of the Fairey Aviation company
• Roy Fedden, a British engine designer for Bristol Engine Company
• Anton Flettner
• Anthony Fokker, (1890–1939)
• Henry Folland
• Gerhard Fieseler German aircraft designer

G

• Valentin Glushko
• Robert Goddard
• Tadeusz Góra
• Jay Greene
• Giuseppe Gabrielli (1903–1987) – Italian aircraft designer
• Bartolomeu de Gusmão - Portuguese Priest aircraft designer

H

• B. J. Habibie
• Raoul Hafner
• Geoffrey de Havilland, (1882–1965)
• Harry Hawker
• Edward H. Heinemann
• Ernst Heinkel
• Homer Hickam
• Peter K. Homer
• Howard Hughes, aerospace engineer, cineast, entrepreneur
• François Hussenot, inventor of one of the early forms of the flight recorder
• Rick Husband – died in the Columbia disaster
• Wolfgang Haack
• Stanley Hooker

J

• Clarence "Kelly" Johnson (1910–1990)
• Robert T. Jones

K

• Theodore von Kármán, (1881–1963)
• Dietrich Küchemann
• Sergey Korolev
• Chris Kraft
• Ave K. Kludze, Jr.
• Eugene Kranz Aeronautical Engineer

L

• Samuel Pierpont Langley – aircraft
• Otto Lilienthal
• Alexander Lippisch
• Per Lindstrand – balloons (and other aircraft)
• Glynn Lunney (1936– )

M

• Paul MacCready
• Ernst Mach, (1838–1916)
• Elsie MacGill, (1905–1980)
• Frederick Marriott, (1805–1884)
• Mark D. Maughmer
• Wilhelm Messerschmitt (1898–1978)
• R. J. Mitchell
• Montgolfier Brothers
• William C. McCool, died in Columbia disaster

N

• Gerhard Neumann General Electric J79

O

• Hermann Oberth (1894–1989)
• Hans von Ohain (1911–1998)

P

• Richard Pearse – Early New Zealand aircraft builder.
• W. E. W. (Teddy) Petter
• Percy Pilcher
• Herman Potočnik, (1892–1929)
• Ludwig Prandtl
• Henry Potez

R

• Judith Resnik
• Osborne Reynolds, (1842–1912)
• Ben Rich – Lockheed Martin Skunk Works; contributor to SR-71 and President during F-117 development
• John M. Riebe, (1921–2011)
• Wilfrid Thomas Reid (1887–1968)
• Les Frères Robert, Anne-Jean Robert (1758–1820), and Nicolas-Louis Robert. Balloonists
• Sir Alliott Verdon Roe
• Jan Roskam
• Ludwig Roth
• Edward J. Ruppelt (1923–1960) – director of Project Blue Book
• Burt Rutan
• Tubal Claude Ryan (1898–1982) founder of the Ryan Aeronautical Company.

S

• Igor Sikorsky
• Herbert Smith (engineer) – Designer of the Sopwith Triplane
• Sir Tom Sopwith – Sopwith Aeroplane company
• Victor Szebehely – Aerospace Engineering & Celestial Mechanics
• Nevil Shute – Aeronautical Engineer & Author
• Joe Sutter – Chief engineer for the Boeing 747

T

• Richard Truly – former Astronaut and head of NASA
• Andrei Tupolev – Founder of OKB Tupolev
• Theodore Theodorsen – Aerodynamicist at NACA
• Kurt Tank – Design Engineer for Focke-Wulf
• Michael Tolmachoff - Mechanical Aerospace Engineer

V

• Aurel Vlaicu
• Traian Vuia – First flight with no other ground devices

W

• Sir Barnes Wallis (1887–1979)
• Ken Wallis MBE – autogyro
• Hellmuth Walter, (1900–1980) – rocket engines
• Richard Whitcomb
• Sir Frank Whittle, (1907–1996)
• Stanisław Wigura, (1901–1932)
• The Wright Brothers

X

• Qian Xuesen

Y

• Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev – Founder of OKB Yakovlev

Z

• Engelbert Zaschka, (1895–1955), one of the first German helicopter pioneers.
• Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838–1917)
• Robert Zubrin
• Henri Ziegler, father of the Airbus program

See also

• List of Russian aerospace engineers