Sam Barlow Williams (7 May 1921 in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

– 22 June 2009 in

Indian Wells, California Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley. Incorporated in 1967, it lies in between the cities of Palm Desert and La Quinta, California, La Quinta. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

) was an American inventor and founder of

Williams International Williams International is an American manufacturer of small gas turbine engines based in Pontiac, Michigan, United States. It produces jet engines for cruise missiles and small jet aircraft. History Dr. Sam B. Williams worked at Chrysler on ...

. He was best known for his development of the small fan-jet engine, and received several prestigious awards for innovation in this field of aviation. Among the awards that Williams received were: *

Collier Trophy The Robert J. Collier Trophy is awarded annually "for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been t ...

1978, presented by President Jimmy Carter *

Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy The Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy was established by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) in 1948 after a trust fund was created in 1936 by Godfrey Lowell Cabot of Boston, a former president of the NAA. It is awarded to a living America ...

1988, presented by President Ronald Reagan *

National Medal of Technology The National Medal of Technology and Innovation (formerly the National Medal of Technology) is an honor granted by the president of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development ...

1995, presented by President Bill Clinton The Medal of Technology was awarded to Williams for: He was also an inductee into the

National Inventors Hall of Fame The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a US patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also operate ...

and the

National Aviation Hall of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is a museum, annual awards ceremony and learning and research center that was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, United States, known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" with ...

1998. In addition to efforts in aviation, he helped promote inventors and inventions in medical research for cancer and for degenerative eye disease, with which he was afflicted. Williams was a mechanical engineer for the

Chrysler Corporation FCA US, LLC, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of ...

before starting his own company to develop and build small gas turbine engines. The first production contract was for an experimental gas turbine for a marine outboard.AW & ST

References

Biography at National Inventors Hall of Fame

Biography at National Aviation Hall of Fame

Short bio from 2003 NBAA award presentation
1921 births 2009 deaths American inventors Collier Trophy recipients National Medal of Technology recipients Businesspeople from Seattle National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees People from Indian Wells, California 20th-century American businesspeople American aerospace engineers Aviation inventors {{US-inventor-stub

See also

References