Ezra Kotcher (1903-1990) earned a B.S. from the University of California in 1928 and an M.S. from the University of Michigan in 1937. In 1942, Kotcher joined the Air Force as a military officer and became a senior aeronautic engineer at Air Materiel Command. Four years later, he became the first director of the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology. He remained there until 1951 and was instrumental in getting the X-1 program off the ground. In 1952, he became the director of labs at Wright Field (Wright-Patterson) Air Force Base and in 1960, retired from military life and took a management position with the Aerospace Corporation. See "Ezra Kotcher," biographical file, NASA Historical Reference Collection.

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Updated September 18, 1997

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