Robert Seamans was an aerospace engineer and administrator, who served as Deputy Administrator of NASA, President of the National Academy of Engineering, and most recently as Dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT's) School of Engineering.

 

Seamans earned a BS at Harvard (1939), an MS in aeronautics at MIT (1942), and an ScD in instrumentation at MIT (1951). From 1955 to 1958, he worked at RCA, first as manager of the Airborne Systems Laboratory and later as chief engineer of the Missile Electronics and Controls Division. From 1948 to 1958, he also served on technical committees of NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), NASA's predecessor. He served as a consultant to the Scientific Advisory Board of the United States Air Force from 1957 to 1959, as a Member of the Board from 1959 to 1962, and as an Associate Advisor from 1962 to 1967. He was a National Delegate, Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (NATO) from 1966 to 1969. In 1960, Seamans joined NASA as Associate Administrator. In 1965, he became Deputy Administrator, and also served as Acting Administrator. During his years at NASA he worked closely with the Department of Defense in research and engineering programs and served as co-chairman of the Astronautics Coordinating Board.