Physicist and NASA administrator, born in Pocomoke City, Maryland, USA. Known for his scientific contributions to fluid mechanics and boundary layer phenomena, he became director of research for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (194758). He gained wide recognition as the first deputy administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (195865), and was consultant to the Science Advisory Committee to President Johnson (1965) and a contributor to many technical journals.
Dr. Hugh Latimer Dryden (July 2, 1898–December 2, 1965) was an aeronautical scientist and civil servant. He served as NASA Deputy Administrator from August 19, 1958 until his death.
He was born in Pocomoke City, Maryland, the son of Samuel Isaac and Nova Hill Culver Dryden, and was named after a popular local Methodist clergyman.
As a student he excelled in mathematics. He graduated from Baltimore City College, a High School, at the age of 14, and was the youngest student ever to graduate from that school. With a scholarship, he was admitted to Johns Hopkins University and graduated with honors, after only three years, with a bachelor of arts degree.
In 1918 he joined the National Bureau of Standards, becoming an inspector of gauges. Ames, he obtained a transfer to the bureau's Wind Tunnel division, and began taking graduate courses in fluid dynamics to complete his Ph.D. In 1919 at the age of 20, he was awarded his degree in physics and mathematics from Johns Hopkins University, the youngest person ever to have received a doctorate from that institution.
In 1920 he became the director of the Aerodynamics Division of the National Bureau of Standards, a newly-created section.
By 1934 he had become the bureau's Chief of the Mechanics and Sound Division. In 1939 he became a member of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).
With the start of World War II, Dr. Dryden served in an advisory capacity to the Air Force.
After the war Dr. Dryden became the Director of Aeronautical Research for NACA in 1946.
He held the position of Director of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), NASA's predecessor, from 1947 until October 1958. In addition he served on numerous government advisory committees, including the Scientific Advisory Committee to the President. After NACA became NASA, he became the Deputy Director of that organization, serving until his death.
He died from cancer on December 2, 1965.
Dr. Dryden is also a founding member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Dr. Dryden was portrayed by George Bartenieff in the 1998 TV miniseries From the Earth to the Moon.
Bibliography
Dr. Dryden published over a hundred papers and articles. "The Role of Transition from Laminar to Turbulent Flow in Fluid Mechanics", 1941, proceedings University of Pennsylvania Bicentennial Conference on Fluid Mechanics and Statistical Methods in Engineering. Dryden, Hugh L., and Abbott, Ira H., "The design of low-turbulence wind tunnels", NACA, Technical Note 1755, Nov 1949. Career Service Award from the National Civil Service League, 1958. National Medal of Science award in Engineering, 1965. Member of the National Academy of Sciences. Founding Member of the National Academy of Engineering. The NASA Flight Research Center was renamed the NASA Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center on March 26, 1976. Dryden crater on the Moon is named for him.
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