George Wolfe Brady was born in Muncie, Indiana in 1903. He graduated from Yale University in 1925 and earned a Masters degree in Aeronautical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He worked a few years for Chance-Vought Aircraft and then 30 years for Curtiss-Wright Aircraft including World War II. He served as chief engineer of the propeller division helping to design the reverse pitch propeller, jet engines, and turbo-props. After the war Mr. Brady worked with Dr. Robert Goddard in developing liquid fuel rockets for the military. After Sputnik was launched by the Soviet Union in 1958, he moved to Washington, D.C. in order to assist NASA in the technical planning of the space program, and then in developing the space shuttle. He did this as a member of the Institute of Defense Analysis. He was a member of numerous professional organizations including the Cosmos Club, the American Astronautical Society, and the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In 1972 he received The Evening Star Award for years of public service in neighborhood improvement associations. He died in 1986.
From the guide to the George Wolfe Brady papers, 1910-1976, (University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.)
