Von Kármán, Theodore, 1881-1963
Variant namesAeronautical engineer (aeronautics, physics, applied mathematics), science advisor, and first director of the Daniel Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at Caltech.
From the description of Papers, 1871-1963. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 81407179
Physicist.
From the description of Reminiscences of Theodore Von Kármán : oral history, 1960. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122632066
Aeronautical engineer, science advisor, and first director of the Daniel Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at Caltech.
From the description of Papers, Ca. 1899-1968. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 84429920
Born in Hungary in 1881, Theodore Von Kármán received his doctorate in 1908 from the University of Gottingen. He taught there for four years, worked at the Aeronautical Institute at Aachen, and then served in the Austro-Hungarian Army for three years, during which time he designed an early helicopter. He emigrated to the United States in 1930 to become the director of the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT), which is now known as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. As an engineer and physicist, Von Kármán is most well known for the discovery of the "Von Kármán Vortex Street" which mathematically describes the flow of a fluid around a cylinder. This "flow" has many practical designs and was used by the military in designing modern jet aircraft. In 1944, Von Kármán became the first chairman of the Scientific Advisory Group in Washington, D.C. and he became a regular consultant to the United States military, advising on advances in aviation and rockets. Von Kármán was the first recipient of the National Medal of Science, an honor he received from President John F. Kennedy at the age of eighty-one. Shortly thereafter, Theodore Von Kármán died in Aachen, Germany, in May of 1963. His body was brought back to the United States for burial in Pasadena, California.
From the description of Theodore Von Kármán, 1881-1973. (US Air Force Academy). WorldCat record id: 643074511
Chronology
-
1881 May 11:
Theodore von Kármán born in Budapest (Hungary), son of Maurice (Mór) Kármán and Helene Kármán (née Kohn) -
1898:
von Kármán enters The Royal Joseph Technical University, Budapest -
1902:
receives degree in mechanical engineering from The Royal Joseph -
1903 -1906 :joins the firm of Ganz and Company in Budapest as a consulting engineer; accepts position as assistant professor of hydraulics at The Royal Joseph -
1906:
wins a two-year fellowship to Göttingen; attends lectures by David Hilbert, Felix Klein, and Ludwig Prandtl -
1907:
sees his first airplane flights near Paris -
1908:
writes dissertation on the buckling of columns and receives doctor's degree from the University of Göttingen -
1908 -1912 :receives appointment as privatdocent at Göttingen -
1911:
studies the stability of vortex patterns that form behind stationary bodies in flowing fluids ("Kármán vortex street") -
1912 -1913 :von Kármán turns to a problem in solid state physics; he and Max Born analyze the lattice dynamics of a crystal and deduce the spectrum of frequencies in a solid. Next, they apply Einstein's 1907 paper on the heat capacity of solids to their model of crystalline lattice vibrations -
1913:
moves to Aachen as professor of mechanics and aeronautics at the Technische Hochschule and director of the Aerodynamics Institute -
1914 -1918 :military service in the Austro-Hungarian Army; becomes head of the experimental division of the Aviation Corps; collaborates with Wilhelm Zurovec on design of first stable hovering captive helicopter -
1915 Oct 15:
father dies in Budapest -
1919:
returns to Technische Hochschule, Aachen -
1922:
organizes with Tullio Levi-Civita a scientific conference in Innsbruck devoted to aerodynamics and hydrodynamics -
1924:
lectures on the stability of laminar flow and turbulence at the First International Congress on Applied Mechanics at Delft; General Aerodynamic Theory, 2 vols. (with J. M. Burgers) -
1926 Sept 24:
makes his first visit to the United States under the auspices of the Daniel Guggenheim Fund; serves as consultant on the design of new aeronautics laboratory and wind tunnel at Caltech -
1927:
visits Japan; advisor to Kawanishi airplane company; designs country's first industrial wind tunnel -
1928 -1930 :two more visits to the United States -
1930:
von Kármán returns to the problem of turbulence; he succeeds in deriving a logarithmic formula for turbulent skin friction, announces results at Göttingen and at Third International Congress of Applied Mechanics at Stockholm -
1930 Oct 1:
appointment as professor of aeronautics, director of the Daniel Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT), and director of the Daniel Guggenheim Airstrip Institute at Akron, Ohio -
1932:
founding member, Institute of Aeronautical Sciences -
1934:
founding member, hydraulic machinery laboratory for research on centrifugal pumps; consultant, Metropolitan Water District of Los Angeles -
1935:
presents fundamental paper analyzing from a variety of viewpoints the problem of resistance at subsonic and supersonic speeds, Fifth Volta Congress, Rome -
1936:
acquires USA citizenship; GALCIT Rocket Research Project begins -
1937:
visits Russia, China, and Japan; Wilbur Wright Lecture, Royal Aeronautical Society -
1938:
election to National Academy of Sciences; publishes definitive paper (with L. Howarth) on statistical theory of isotropic turbulence -
1939:
Joseph Willard Gibbs lecturer ("The Engineer Grapples with Nonlinear Problems"), American Mathematical Society, Columbus, Ohio -
1939 Apr 18:
von Kármán proposes a Jet Propulsion Experimental Station in the Arroyo Seco -
July 1:
Special Committee of the National Academy of Sciences for Air Corps research initiates jet propulsion research program (GALCIT Project, No. 1) under von Kármán's direction; aerodynamic consultant, Smith-Putnam Wind Turbine -
1939 -1952 :consultant, U.S. Army Air Corps -
1940:
Mathematical Methods in Engineering (with M.A. Biot) -
1941:
aerodynamic consultant, Tacoma Narrows Bridge Consulting Board -
1941 May 11:
Theodore von Kármán Anniversary Volume, in honor of Theodore's 60th birthday -
1941 June:
mother dies in Pasadena -
1942:
joins five colleagues in forming the Aerojet Engineering Corporation -
1944 Oct 23:
appointment as expert consultant to General Henry H. Arnold, Commanding General of the Army Air Forces; organizes and directs U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) -
1944 Nov 1:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory formally created; von Kármán prepares to turn leadership of the Laboratory over to JPL Executive Board -
1945:
leads other SAG members on inspection tour of European aeronautics centers -
1945:
Where We Stand, von Kármán's post-tour report to AAF Scientific Advisory Group on technical developments in air warfare during World War II; also, writes Science, The Key to Air Supremacy, the introductory volume of the Group's long-range report, "Toward New Horizons" -
1946:
receives the U.S. Medal for Merit -
1946 -1954 :chairman, Scientific Advisory Board, U.S. Air Force -
1946:
foreign member, The Royal Society -
1949:
professor emeritus, California Institute of Technology -
1951:
organizes the NATO Advisory Group for Aeronautical Research and Development (AGARD) -
1951 -1963 :chairman, AGARD -
1951 July 2:
sister dies in Pasadena -
1954:
Aerodynamics: Selected Topics in the Light of Their Historical Development, the 1953 Messenger Lectures, Cornell University -
1954:
chairman emeritus, Scientific Advisory Board, USAF -
1955:
Selected Papers on Engineering Mechanics, an anniversary volume prepared by Aachen colleagues in honor of Theodore's 70th birthday -
1961 May 11:
symposium, organized by the Institute of the Aerospace Sciences, New York, in honor of Theodore's 80th birthday; proceedings are published in 1962 -
1963 Feb 8:
recipient of the first U.S. National Medal of Science -
1963 May 7:
dies in Aachen
From the guide to the Theodore von Kármán papers, 1871-1963, (California Institute of Technology. Archives.)
| Role | Title | Holding Repository |
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Filters:
| Place Name | Admin Code | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | |||
| Mississippi River | |||
| United States--Washington (State) | |||
| Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Tacoma, Wash. : 1940) |
| Subject |
|---|
| Aerodynamics |
| Aeronautical engineers |
| Aeronautics |
| Aeronautics, Military |
| Astronautics |
| Atomic theory |
| Aviation |
| Bridges |
| Bridges |
| Civic leaders |
| contract management |
| Fluid dynamics |
| Fluid dynamics |
| Fluid mechanics |
| Fluid mechanics |
| Gas dynamics |
| Industrialists |
| Jato engines |
| Jet propulsion |
| Liquid propellant rocket engines |
| Mathematics |
| Mechanics, Applied |
| Missiles |
| Nuclear aircraft |
| Nuclear engineering |
| Nuclear physics |
| Origin |
| Physicists |
| Physicists |
| Proposals |
| Propulsion system performance |
| Quantum theory |
| Ramjet engines |
| Research and development |
| Rocketry |
| Rocket test facilities |
| Science |
| Science |
| Scientists |
| Scientists |
| Short range ballistic missiles |
| Streamflow velocity |
| Supersonic aircraft |
| Thermodynamics |
| Tracking problem |
| Turbulence |
| Wind tunnels |
| Wind tunnel tests |
| Occupation |
|---|
| Aeronautical Engineer |
| Physicists |
| Activity |
|---|
Person
Birth 1881-05-11
Death 1963-05-07
Americans
Hungarian,
Italian,
English,
German,
Spanish; Castilian
