Before there was an aviation industry, dreamers and inventors like Leonardo DaVinci; Jean François Pilâtre de Rozier and Marquis d'Arlandes; and the Wright Brothers made traveling by air a reality. Each idea built on the other, resulting in more advanced technology. In 1917, GE invented the turbosupercharger, followed by the first American jet engine.

Former GE Aviation President and CEO Brian Rowe recognized the value of these contributions:

“When I took charge of GE Aircraft Engines in October 1979, I was very honored to have the job, but I knew that, if it hadn’t been for people like Sir Frank Whittle, Dr. Hans von Ohain, and Major Frank Halford in the beginning and many others such as Gerhard Neumann and Jack parker, as well as people at Rolls-Royce, Bristol, deHavilland, Westinghouse, Curtiss-Wright, and Pratt and Whitney, we would not even have a business. I felt it would be a good idea to honor the people who helped make GE Aircraft Engines what it was and has since grown to be—not only the engineers, but the finance and business people as well as the airplane designers who learned to use our engines. As a result, my staff and I created our Propulsion Hall of Fame, which is formally housed at the GE Aircraft Engines’ Evendale facility. The inaugural induction was made in the early 1980s, and the ritual continues to this day …” - An excerpt from “Born to Fly”, the AAIA-published autobiography of Brian Rowe

To date, 139 industry pioneers have been recognized for their outstanding contributions to the aviation industry, including the seven remarkable individuals who were inducted to the GE Aviation Propulsion Hall of Fame earlier this week:

Congrats to all of our 2016 inductees! 

 

From left to right: Richard (Rick) Albrecht, Dr. Christopher (Chris) C. Glynn, William (Bill) S.
Clapper, Jan C. Schilling, Thomas (Tom) A. Brisken, Dr. Robert (Bob) E. Schafrik (not pictured: Russell (Russ) F. Sparks)