ROBERT LOEWY

1926 - 2025

LOEWY--Robert Gustav. Robert Gustav Loewy, February 12, 1926 - January 3, 2025. Robert Gustav Loewy passed away on January 3, 2025 on the Jersey Shore near the beach where he spent every summer of his long and happy life. He was 98. Robert was predeceased by his loving wife of 66 years, Lila Spinner Loewy, and his parents, Esther and Samuel Loewy. An adored father and grandfather, Robert is survived by his devoted children, Liz Loewy (Paul Giddins), Joanne Loewy, and Raymond Loewy (Ashleigh Bounds), his grandchildren, Jake Antoniello (Maddison Bailey), Marley Giddins (Daniel Acosta), Sam Giddins, Audrey Antoniello, Nate Loewy and Harper Loewy, and his great-grandson, Alexander Antoniello. Robert Loewy was a brilliant engineer, a consummate gentleman, and an accomplished pianist who could play anything by ear. Born in Philadelphia in 1926, his childhood fascination with airplanes led to an extraordinary career that contributed to many revolutionary advances in aerospace engineering. He joined the US Navy's Officer Training program, which sent him to Cornell University and then Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) for his bachelor's degree, and subsequently to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for his MS in Aerospace Engineering. Robert first pursued his professional career in applied engineering at Cornell Aeronautical Laboratories, where he developed a rotary wing unsteady aerodynamic model, a groundbreaking contribution to rotorcraft aerodynamics. This model, referred to as "Loewy's rotary wing theory," became a cornerstone for understanding the forces acting on helicopter rotor blades. He then moved to the Vertol Division of Boeing where he rose to the position of Chief Technical Engineer, while completing his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. Robert was appointed Chief Scientist of the US Air Force (USAF) under President Lyndon Johnson in 1965, and thereafter served as Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Rochester. In 1974, he became Vice President and Provost at RPI, where he founded a Rotorcraft Technology Center of Excellence established by the Army Research Office. After serving as provost, he became the school's Institute Professor and Director of the Center. In 1993, Robert assumed the positions of Chair of the Aerospace Engineering School and William R. T. Oaks Professor at the the Georgia Institute of Technology, where there is now a library and a lecture series that bear his name. In 2008, Robert retired to his hometown of Philadelphia. Loewy was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to the engineering of rotary-wing, vertical take-off and landing aircraft. He was an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics -- its highest honor. In 2006, he was awarded the Daniel Guggenheim Medal for aeronautical engineering. He was a recipient of the Spirit of St. Louis Medal given by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Lawrence A. Sperry Award and the Dryden Research Lectureship given by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, as well as the Nikolsky Memorial Lecturer awarded by the Vertical Flight Society. Robert's family will be forever grateful for the exceptional home care provided by Kwame Kyei and Wilfredo Tee, as well as the caring and compassionate medical staff at the United Methodist Communities at The Shores in Ocean City, NJ. The family will host Shivah gatherings on: Tuesday, January 7, 2025 from 5 - 9 m at the home of Liz Loewy in Irvington, NY. Wednesday, January 8, 2025 from 5 - 8pm at the home of Joanne Loewy in Yardley, PA. Kindly consider making donations to the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia or the charity of your choice to celebrate Robert's memory and truly wonderful life.