Awards & Winners

William F. Durand

Date of Birth 05-March-1859
Place of Birth Beacon Falls
(United States of America, Connecticut, New Haven County)
Nationality United States of America
Also know as William Durand
William F. Durand was a United States naval officer and pioneer mechanical engineer. He contributed significantly to the development of aircraft propellers. He was the first civilian chair of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the forerunner of NASA. A native of Connecticut, he was a member of the first graduating class of Birmingham High School in Derby, Connecticut in 1877. He graduated second in his class at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and received his Ph.D. from Lafayette College. He went on to teach at the Michigan State College, Cornell University and Stanford University, teaching that school's first course in Aeronautics, the second offered by any school in the country. He helped rebuild Stanford after the 1906 earthquake, and the department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering building bears his name. A memorial there reads: "His first professional assignment in 1880 was on the USS Tennessee, a full rigged wooden ship with auxiliary steam power. His last, 1942-46 was as chairman of the National Aeronautical Commission for the development of jet propulsion for aircraft."

Awards by William F. Durand

Check all the awards nominated and won by William F. Durand.