United StatesDr. Paul MacCready
Founder (former Chairman, deceased 2007)
Aeronautical engineer who earned a B.S. in physics from Yale (1947) and a Ph.D. in aeronautics from Caltech (1952). A three-time U.S. National Soaring Champion and the first American to become World Soaring Champion (1956), MacCready founded AeroVironment in 1971 to translate his expertise in low-drag aircraft into practical energy and unmanned systems. He designed the Gossamer Condor, the first human-powered aircraft to complete a figure-eight course (1977), and the Gossamer Albatross, which crossed the English Channel in 1979. His work pioneered the lightweight, high-efficiency structures now central to small UAS design.