List of aerospace engineers

This is a list of notable aerospace engineers, people who were trained in or practiced aerospace engineering.

See also List of engineers for people from other disciplines.

B

• V. P. Barmin (1909–1993) – designer of the rocket launch complex
• Frank Barnwell (1880–1938) – chief engineer, Bristol Aeroplane Company
• Thomas W. Benoist (1874–1917) – early airline entrepreneur
• Jenny Body – former President of the Royal Aeronautical Society
• William Boeing (1881–1956) – founder of Boeing
• Charles Bolden (born 1946) – NASA Administrator
• Ludwig Bölkow (1912–2003) – aerodynamicist for the Me 262
• Frank Borman (born 1928) – first man to circle the Moon
• Yvonne Brill (1924–2013) – electrothermal hydrazine thruster
• Adolf Busemann (1901–1986) – swept wing

C

• Sir Sydney Camm (1893–1966)
• Giovanni Caproni (1886–1957)
• Sir George Cayley (1773–1857) – notable for his research in aerodynamics
• Clyde Cessna (1879–1954) – early aircraft designer
• Roy Chadwick (1893–1947)
• Roger Chaffee (1935–1967) – Apollo 1 fire victim on January 27, 1967
• Kalpana Chawla (1961–2003) – died in the Columbia disaster
• Vladimir Chelomei (1914–1984)
• Henri Coandă (1886–1972) – inventor of the jet engine
• Nicholas Comper (1897–1939) – designer of the Comper Swift
• Philip M. Condit (born 1941) – former CEO of Boeing
• Scott Crossfield (1921–2006) – first man to fly faster than twice the speed of sound in NAA's X-15
• Glenn Curtiss (1878–1930) – founder of the US aircraft industry

D

• Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)
• Werner Dahm (1917–2008)
• Marcel Dassault (1892–1986)
• Serge Dassault (1925–2018)
• Geoffrey de Havilland (1882–1965)
• Juan de la Cierva (1895–1936) – inventor of the autogyro
• Satish Dhawan (1920–2002)
• Paul Bernard Dilworth (1915–2007)
• Heini Dittmar (1911–1960) – record-breaking pilot
• Jurgis Dobkevičius (1900–1926) – Lithuanian aviation constructor, military pilot
• Claudius Dornier (1884–1969)
• Donald W. Douglas (1892–1981) – founder of the Douglas Aircraft Company
• Iain Dowie (born 1965)
• Sir George Dowty (1901–1975)
• Alberto Santos Dumont (1873–1932) – inventor of the dirigible; aeronautics pioneer
• Pedro Duque (born 1963)

E

• Joe Engle (born 1932)
• Walter Extra (born 1954)

F

• Maxime Faget (1921–2004) – designer of the Project Mercury spacecraft
• Charles Richard Fairey (1857–1956) – founder of the Fairey Aviation Company
• Roy Fedden (1885–1973) – British engine designer for Bristol Engine Company
• Gerhard Fieseler (1896–1987) – German aircraft designer
• Anton Flettner (1885–1961)
• Anthony Fokker (1890–1939)
• Henry Folland (1889–1954)

G

• Giuseppe Gabrielli (1903–1987) – Italian aircraft designer
• John Glenn (1921–2016) – first man to orbit the Earth in 1962
• Valentin Glushko (1908–1989)
• Robert Goddard (1882–1945) – scientist who developed the first liquid-fueled rocket 3-16-26
• Tadeusz Góra (1918–2010)
• Jay Greene (1942–2017)
• Gus Grissom (1926–1967) – Apollo 1 fire victim on January 27, 1967
• Bartolomeu de Gusmão (1685–1724) – Portuguese priest; aircraft designer
• Antanas Gustaitis (1898–1941) – Lithuanian aircraft designer, Brigadier General, Commander-in-Chief of Lithuanian Air Force

H

• Wolfgang Haack (1902–1994)
• B. J. Habibie (1936–2019)
• Raoul Hafner (1905–1980)
• Harry Hawker (1889–1921) – test pilot, formed Hawker Aircraft Company
• Edward H. Heinemann (1908–1991) – Chief Engineer for Douglas Aircraft, designed 20 military aircraft
• Ernst Heinkel (1888–1958) – German aircraft designer, developed first jet rocket aircraft
• Homer Hickam (born 1943)
• Peter K. Homer (born 1961)
• Stanley Hooker (1907–1984) – British engine engineer for Rolls Royce Aerospace
• Jiro Horikoshi (1903–1982) – chief engineer for the Mitsubishi A6M
• Howard Hughes (1905–1976) – aerospace engineer, owned RKO movie studio, entrepreneur in real estate
• Rick Husband (1957–2003) – died in the Columbia disaster
• François Hussenot (1912–1951) – inventor of one of the early forms of the flight recorder

J

• Clarence "Kelly" Johnson (1910–1990) – formed Lockheed Skunk Works and design engineer of aircraft: SR-71, U-2, F-117A, F-104, C-130, T-33, P-38, and Constellations
• Katherine Johnson (1918–2020) – mathematician who worked as an aerospace technologist at NASA
• Robert Thomas Jones (1910–1999) – aeronautical engineer at NASA
• Hugo Junkers (1859–1935) – pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes

K

• A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015) – former President of India; "Missile Man of India"
• Alexander Kartveli (1896–1974) – Chief Engineer at Republic Aviation, and contributor to first aerospace vehicle prototypes
• Alexander Kemurdzhian (1921–2003) - Soviet Armenian mechanical engineer who is best known for designing Lunokhod 1, the first ever lunar rover.
• Dutch Kindelberger (1895–1962) – Chief Engineer at Douglas Aircraft and head of North American Aviation
• Klapmeier brothers (born 1958) (born 1961) – founders of Cirrus
• Ave K. Kludze, Jr.
• Sergey Korolev (1907–1966)
• Chris Kraft (1924–2019)
• Eugene Kranz (born 1933) – aeronautical engineer
• Dietrich Küchemann (1911–1976)

L

• Diane Lemaire (1923–2012) – first woman to graduate from the University of Melbourne with a degree in engineering
• Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834–1906) – aircraft
• Otto Lilienthal (1848–1896)
• Charles Lindbergh (1902–1974)– made first solo transatlantic airplane flight from NY to Paris in 1927 on Spirit of St. Louis
• Per Lindstrand (born 1948) – balloons and other aircraft
• Alexander Lippisch (1894–1976)
• Glynn Lunney (born 1936)
• Arkhip Lyulka (1908–1984)

M

• Paul MacCready (1925–2007)
• Elsie MacGill (1905–1980)
• Ernst Mach (1838–1916)
• Frederick Marriott (1805–1884)
• Mark D. Maughmer (born 1950)
• Alan Mulally (born 1945) – Boeing executive and President of Ford
• William C. McCool (1961–2003) – died in the Columbia disaster
• Sean McMahon (born 1994) – aeronautical engineer
• Wilhelm Messerschmitt (1898–1978) – designed Bf 109 and jet powered Me 262
• Arseny Mironov (1917–2019) – Russian scientist, aerospace engineer and aircraft pilot
• R. J. Mitchell (1895–1937) – Englishman who designed the Spitfire aircraft
• Montgolfier brothers (1740–1810) (1745–1799)
• John J. Montgomery (1858–1911)
• Albert Mooney (1906–1986)
• Elon Musk (born 1971) – founder of SpaceX and co-founder of Tesla

N

• Gerhard Neumann (1917–1997) – engineer for General Electric; contributed to the design of the J79
• Jack Northrop (1895–1981) – founded Northrop Corporation in 1939 and later the Flying Wing
• Aleksandr Nadiradze (1914–1987) – Soviet Georgian ballistic missile and rocket engineer

O

• Hermann Oberth (1894–1989)
• Wendy Okolo

P

• Paul C. Paris (1930–2017) – known for introducing fracture mechanics to the aviation industry
• Richard Pearse (1877–1953) – early New Zealand aircraft builder
• W. E. W. (Teddy) Petter (1908–1968)
• Percy Pilcher (1867–1899)
• Curtis Pitts (1915–2005)
• Paul Poberezny (1921–2013) – founder of the Experimental Aircraft Association
• Boris Popov – invented one of the first successful aircraft ballistic parachute systems
• Henry Potez (1891–1981)
• Herman Potočnik (1892–1929)
• Ludwig Prandtl (1875–1953)

R

• Wilfrid Thomas Reid (1887–1968)
• Judith Resnik (1949–1986)
• Osborne Reynolds (1842–1912)
• Ben Rich (1925–1995) – director of Lockheed's Skunk Works; contributed to SR-71 and F-117 development
• John M. Riebe (1921–2011)
• Robert brothers (1758–1820) (1760–1820) – balloonists
• Frank D. Robinson (born 1930)
• Sir Alliott Verdon Roe (1877–1956)
• Jan Roskam (born 1930)
• Ludwig Roth (1909–1967)
• Edward J. Ruppelt (1923–1960) – director of Project Blue Book
• Burt Rutan (born 1943) – airplane and spacecraft designer
• Tubal Claude Ryan (1898–1982) – founder of the Ryan Aeronautical Company

S

• Edgar Schmued (1899–1985) – lead engineer on the P-51, F-86, F-100, F-5, T-38
• Joe Shea (1947–2016) – NASA Administrator for the Apollo Program
• Nevil Shute (1899–1960) – aeronautical engineer and author
• Igor Sikorsky (1889–1972) – pioneered helicopters
• Ozires Silva (born 1931) – founder of Embraer
• Herbert Smith (1889–1977) – designer of the Sopwith Triplane
• Sir Tom Sopwith (1888–1989) – Sopwith Aviation Company
• Harrison Storms (1915–1992) – directed North American Aviation's Apollo Program
• Joe Sutter (1921–2016) – chief engineer for the Boeing 747
• Victor Szebehely (1921–1977) – aerospace engineering and celestial mechanics

T

• Kurt Tank (1898–1983) – design engineer for Focke-Wulf
• Max Taitz (1904–1980) – scientist in aerodynamics and flight testing of aircraft, one of the founders of the Gromov Flight Research Institute
• Clarence Gilbert Taylor (1898–1988) – designer of the Piper Cub
• Moulton Taylor (1912–1965) – experimental aircraft pioneer
• Theodore Theodorsen (1897–1978) – aerodynamicist at NACA
• Richard Truly (born 1937) – former astronaut and head of NASA
• Andrei Tupolev (1888–1972) – founder of OKB Tupolev

V

• Richard VanGrunsven (born 1939) – prolific kit aircraft engineer
• Aurel Vlaicu (1882–1913)
• Wernher von Braun (1912–1977) – German rocket pioneer
• Theodore von Kármán (1881–1963)
• Hans von Ohain (1911–1998)
• Traian Vuia (1872–1950) – first flight with no other ground devices

W

• Dwane L. Wallace (1911–1989) – early Cessna CEO and designer
• Sir Barnes Wallis (1887–1979)
• Ken Wallis (1916–2013) MBE – autogyro
• Hellmuth Walter (1900–1980) – rocket engines
• Johanna Weber (1910–2014)
• Günter Wendt (1924–2010) – McDonnell Aircraft and North American Aviation engineer; pad leader, prepared all crewed Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft and sealed all crewmembers in for launch.
• Fred Weick (1899–1993)
• Daniel Weihs (born 1942)
• Edward Curtis Wells (1910–1986)
• Richard Whitcomb (1921–2009)
• Ed White (1930–1967) – Apollo 1 fire victim on January 27, 1967
• Sir Frank Whittle (1907–1996) – pioneer of the jet engine
• Stanisław Wigura (1901–1932)
• Oswald S. Williams Jr. (1921–2005)
• Steve Wittman (1904–1995) – air-racer and aircraft designer
• Wright brothers (1871–1948) (1867–1912) – made first powered airplane flight on Dec 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, NC

X

• Qian Xuesen (1911–2009)

Y

• Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev (1906–1989) – founder of OKB Yakovlev
• Chuck Yeager (1923–2020) – test pilot and first to break the sound barrier

Z

• Engelbert Zaschka (1895–1955) – one of the first German helicopter pioneers
• Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838–1917)
• Henri Ziegler (1906–1998) – father of the Airbus program
• Robert Zubrin (born 1952)