Durant, Frederick C.

From Lehigh Engineering Heritage Initiative

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**Frederick Clark Durant, III**
Image:FCDimage.jpg Fred Durant, alumnus
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Degree:	BS engineering
Graduation:	1939
Notable Achievement:	Responsible for NASA contributions to the Smithsonian

Frederick Clark Durant, III is a 1939 alumnus of the engineering college. He was a naval aviator in World War II and became involved in rocketry while working at Bell Aircraft from 1946-47. From 1948-51, he was the director of engineering for the Naval Air Rocket Test Station. In 1953, Durant was elected president of the American Rocket Society.

The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC hired Durant in 1964 to bring the Smithsonian into the space age. He became assistant director and head of the new Astronautics Department and is responsible for making the Museum the official repository for all flown NASA hardware. Numerous satellites, spacecraft, space suits, and other space paraphernalia were collected during his tenure as director. He retired from the Smithsonian in 1980.

Durant is also a passionate space art collector. In 1999, he presented 64 paintings from his personal collection to the Museum for permanent display in their galleries.

Durant's wife was the late Carolyn "Pip" Durant.