Eugene Edzards Covert (February 6, 1926 – January 15, 2015) was an aeronautics specialist born in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek (South Dakota), Rapid Creek, where the settlement deve ...

credited with the world's first practical wind tunnel magnetic suspension system, and was a member of the

Rogers Commission The Rogers Commission Report was written by a Presidential Commission charged with investigating the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster during its 10th mission, STS-51-L. The report, released and submitted to President Ronald Reagan on June ...

. In the 1970s he was the chief scientist of the US Air Force and technical director of the

European Office of Aerospace Research and Development The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is a scientific research and development detachment of the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of direct-energy based aerospace warf ...

Education

Covert graduated from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in 1946. He received a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering in 1948. In 1958, he received his doctorate from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

Honors

* Exceptional Civilian Service Award from the United States Air Force (1973, 1976) * University Educator of the Year, Engineering Science Division, American Society of Aerospace Education, National Aeronautic Association (1980) * NASA Public Service Award (1981) * MIT Graduate Student Council Outstanding Teacher Aware (1985) * American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Ground Testing Aware (1990) * Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development von Karman Medal (1990) * American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics W. F. Durand Lectureship (1992) *

Daniel Guggenheim Medal The Daniel Guggenheim Medal is an American engineering award, established by Daniel and Harry Guggenheim. The medal is considered to be one of the greatest honors that can be presented for a lifetime of work in aeronautics. Its first recipien ...

for aviation (2005) * Outstanding Achievement Award from the University of Minnesota (2007)

References

External links

2015 deaths University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni People from Rapid City, South Dakota Chief Scientists of the United States Air Force 1926 births Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering American scientists {{US-scientist-stub