Clarence Syvertson

Who was Clarence Syvertson?

Clarence A. "Sy" Syvertson is the retired Center Director of the Ames Research Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, located at Moffett Field, California.

Syvertson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1926. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering in 1946 at age 20. After serving in the US Army in 1946 - 1947, he returned to the University and earned a Master of Science in the same field in 1948. He also did graduate work at Stanford University and the Harvard Business School. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, of the American Astronautical Society, and of the California Council on Science and Technology, a member of Tau Beta Pi and Tau Omega honorary societies.

In 1948, Syvertson joined Ames, then known as the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. For the first decade he was engaged in aerodynamic research in the high supersonic and hypersonic speed ranges. His research led to some significant results including the design of the first lifting body entry vehicle, the NASA M2-F1, a research precursor to the Space Shuttle. Earlier work included development of the aerodynamic concept on which a Mach 3 experimental bomber, the XB-70 Valkyrie, was based. Only two XB-70s were ever built; one was lost in a mid-air collision and the other is now in the Air Force museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. The potential threat of a force of Mach-3 Bombers led the Soviets to build an expensive defense system.