Emil Praeger

Who was Emil Praeger?

Emil Praeger was an American architect and civil engineer.

Praeger graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1915. Praeger also acted as head of the civil engineering department at RPI from 1939-1946.

In 1934, as chief engineer for the City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation, Praeger surveyed all New York City parks. Under director Robert Moses, Praeger created architectural drawings, descriptions, and photographs for every park that the city owned.

During World War II, Praeger served in the US Navy, and he eventually reached the rank of captain. He developed the original design of the concrete floating breakwater - known as "Phoenix" - for the Invasion of Normandy. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on December 17, 1944.

Praeger served as consulting engineer on the White House renovations in 1949.