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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Sponsor

Honored by:
Barbara Van Brunt

At age 13 William (Bill) Van Brunt stated that he wanted to be an aeronautical engineer.

He succeeded- earning a B.S. degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, a M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT, elected to the Society of Sigma Xi, a J.D. from the Boston University School of Law, with Honors and an LL.M. from the Harvard School of Law, all the time enrolled as a full-time student, while working full time. In addition to his academic education, he taught himself how to write scientific software, enabling the rapid solution of complex problems.

Bill Van Brunt served at Avco Missiles Systems Division as a senior scientist and part of an aerothermodynamics design team engaged in research and development on the Apollo Capsule, Re-entry vehicles, Probes for NASA into the planet Venus and other Hypersonic Missile Systems.

Two years after receiving his B.S. and in his first year with Avco, Van Brunt was named scientist of the year for his work on the software design for solving problems involving hypersonic aerothermodynamics.

In a contribution he made to the NASA program after leaving Avco, Bill volunteered, because of his in-depth knowledge of the aerodynamics of the Apollo Capsule and worked as part of a team seeking the safe return of Apollo 13, for which he later received the wholly informal "Steely Eyed Astronaut Award" in a personal letter from one of the Apollo 13 Astronauts, who somehow learned of his creativity and steadfast determination to ensure the safe return of Apollo 13.

After retiring, at age 70, as General Counsel, Executive Vice President and Secretary for Carlson Companies, a large international hospitality and travel company, in an effort requiring > 15,000 hours of research, obtaining the necessary mass of data and developing new scientific principles, based on his knowledge of thermodynamics, at age 78, Bill has offered up the only practical solution to the problem of Global Warming in a paper entitled, THE SOLUTION TO GLOBAL WARMING?€? - MAKE IT RAIN; notwithstanding the scorn he has received from and the lack of acceptance by a few of Cognoscenti on this subject. Because of the existential risk global warming presents to his grandchildren and all of humanity, he continues in this effort.

His entire career, Bill never compromised when it came to speaking the truth to those who needed to hear it, even when, like this, it might not be well received.

Bill?€™s proudest achievement, though, being an active, fun, caring and pretty good husband, father and grandfather.