Jack L. Kerrebrock papers

Jack L. Kerrebrock, 1928-2019, was a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He received his BS in 1950 from Oregon State University, his MS in 1951 from Yale University, and his PhD in 1956 from Caltech. He came to MIT as an assistant professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1960. He was promoted to associate professor in 1962 and full professor in 1965. He founded and was the director of the Space Propulsion Laboratory at MIT from 1962 to 1976. He became the director of the Gas Turbine Laboratory at MIT in 1968, and later became the head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1978. (1)

During Kerrebrock's time as head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the department developed the Daedalus Project. This project involved a human-powered aircraft which flew 72.4 miles in 1988 from Crete to Santorini, a world record that still stands.

Some of his academic awards include election to the National Academy of Engineering, honorary fellowship in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and memberships in the American Association for the Science, Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, and Phi Beta Phi. (2)

1. Office of the President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Report of the President and the Chancellor 1977-78,” 1978. http://dome.mit.edu/handle/1721.3/59059.

2. MIT News. “Jack Kerrebrock, Professor Emeritus of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Dies at 91.” Accessed July 20, 2020. http://news.mit.edu/2019/jack-kerrebrock-professor-emeritus-aeronautics-and-astronautics-dies-0731.