UWAA History

The Wright Brothers' remarkable achievement of the first, controlled, powered flight on December 17, 1903 changed the world in profound ways that are still evolving. The century since that fateful day has seen wondrous aeronautical developments and has extended the reach of mankind deep into space. The Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington, one of the first in this nation, has contributed to many of these developments for three quarters of that century. Our graduates have made seminal contributions to aviation and space flight, and our faculty, staff, and students have engaged in basic and applied research that has advanced the state of the art on many fronts.

To honor our department's role in the evolution of flight, we have embarked on a project to compile and write our history. This has proven to be a fascinating endeavor. The first fruit of our labors has been a paper that will soon be published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, as a chapter in a book on the history of aerospace engineering education in the U.S. We are now proceeding to expand this work into a full book of our own, which we plan to publish in time for our department's 75^th anniversary in autumn 2004. To help us with this enterprise we are seeking input from all alumni and former faculty and staff.

Please read our paper, and then send us your reminiscences, anecdotes, photos, and any other memorabilia, or copies thereof, via regular mail to the address listed below. We will promptly return all original items after copying or photographing them. These materials will enable us to give the book a personal touch. We look forward to hearing from you!

-Adam Bruckner, Chair

Send material to:

If you have any questions, please call the department's main number: (206) 543-1950

Guggenheim Hall