Theodore von Kármán, (born, May 11, 1881, Budapest—died May 6, 1963, Aachen, W.Ger.), Hungarian-born U.S. engineer. After directing the Aeronautical Institute at Aachen, Germany (1912–30), he immigrated to the U.S., where he taught at the California Institute of Technology (1930–44) and later headed NATO’s Advisory Group for Aeronautical Research and Development (1951–63). His pioneering work in aeronautics and astronautics included important contributions to fluid mechanics, turbulence theory, supersonic flight, mathematics in engineering, and aircraft structures. His jet-assisted takeoff (JATO) rocket provided the prototype for engines used in present-day long-range missiles. He contributed to the first assisted takeoff of U.S. aircraft with solid- and liquid-propellant rockets, the flight of aircraft with rocket propulsion alone, and the development of spontaneously igniting liquid propellants (later used in the Apollo modules). In 1963 he was awarded the first National Medal of Science.
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