Frederick C. Durant

Frederick Clark Durant III (December 31, 1916- October 21, 2015) was an American author, naval test pilot, chemical engineer, and expert in rocketry and spaceflight. Durant served as a "key advisor" to U.S. military, intelligence, and space-flight programs, playing a central role in Project Orbiter, the first US satellite program. In his later years, Durant served as assistant director of the National Air and Space Museum and an editor of Encyclopædia Britannica. Childhood and education Durant was a descendant of Thomas C. Durant and engineer Joseph Harrison, Jr. Durant's father was Frederick C. Durant Jr., an engineer educated at MIT and the Colorado School of Mines, who became president of a Telephone Company Fred C. Durant III graduated the Haverford preparatory school in 1934. In 1939, Durant earned a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University. From 1939 to 1941, Durant was employed as a chemical engineer with the E.I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co., at Pennsgrove, New Jersey.