Richard Harbert Smith (15 January 1894, Dillsboro,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

– 6 July 1957,

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

) was a professor and researcher of

aeronautical engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: Aeronautics, aeronautical engineering and Astronautics, astronautical engineering. A ...

at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), from 1929 to 1945. His academic education was developed at the

Moores Hill Moores Hill is a town in Sparta Township, Dearborn County, Indiana, United States. The population was 597 at the 2010 census. History Platted in 1839 by Adam Moore and Andrew Stevens, it originally contained nine lots adjacent to Moore's gristmil ...

College ( BS, 1915),

(today, University of Evansville); the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

( SB, 1918),

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

( Greater Boston),

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

; and the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

( MA, 1928;

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

, 1929),

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Prof. Smith worked as an assistant at the

United States Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...

. In 1929, he was an associate physicist at the Navy's laboratory when he was hired by the

as an associate professor of aeronautical engineering, being promoted to full professor in 1931. For many years, he was Dr. Jerome Clarke Hunsaker's assistant administrator for aeronautical engineering at MIT. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

period, Prof. Smith coordinated the MIT Civilian Pilot Training Program and was also instructor for several classes of female engineering trainees for the

Curtiss Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decade ...

company. In 1945, he left MIT to go to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, hired by the Brazilian government, in a venture led by

Casimiro Montenegro Filho Casimiro Montenegro Filho (29 October 1904—26 February 2000) was a Brazilian army and air force officer. He reached the rank of Marechal-do-ar, the highest rank of the Brazilian Air Force rank system. Born in Fortaleza, Montenegro joined Reale ...

, then

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

of the

Brazilian Air Force "Wings that protect the country" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Hino dos Aviadores , mascot = , anniversaries = 22 May (anniver ...

, to establish an institute of aeronautics, the ''

Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica The ''Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica'' (ITA; en, Aeronautics Institute of Technology) is an institution of higher education maintained by the Brazilian Air Force and is located in São José dos Campos, Brazil. ITA is consistently ran ...

'' (Aeronautical Technology Institute), of which he became the first rector.Rectors and vice-rectors of ITA (portuguese). Site of the ''Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA)''.
/ref> This was an outstanding contribution to the scientific and technological education in

References

External links

University of Evansville
(earlier

College),

.
MIT Archives

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Johns Hopkins University

Smith, R H - List of Technical Reports. NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dr. Jerome Clarke Hunsaker. Article from the Encyclopædia Britannica

Shatswell Ober, "The Story of Aeronautics at M.I.T., 1895 to 1960". Amazon.com site

# ttp://web.mit.edu/museum/ MIT Museum
MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Richard Harbert Smith
Wiki of

ITA Ita or ITA may refer to : Places and jurisdictions * ITA, ISO 3166-1 country code for Italy * Ita (Africa), an ancient city and former bishopric in Roman Mauretania, presently a Latin Catholic titular see * Itá, Paraguay People * Ita (prin ...

Alumni.
Smith, R. H. Conference "''Brazil, future aviation power''"
(excerpts in Portuguese). Conference held on September 26, 1945, at the Brazilian Education Ministry auditorium, in Rio de Janeiro, invited by the ''Instituto Brasileiro de Aeronáutica'' (Brazilian Institute of Aeronautics). Site of the '' Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia Aeroespacial - DCTA'' (Brazilian Department of Aerospace Science and Technology). {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Richard Harbert 1894 births 1957 deaths American aerospace engineers Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni People from Dillsboro, Indiana 20th-century American educators Brazilian educators 20th-century American engineers