Rocketeers and Gentlemen Engineers: A History of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics...and What Came Before

Crouch is Senior Curator of the Division of Aeronautics at the National Air and Space Museum. Since 1974, he has served both the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of American History in a variety of curatorial and administrative posts. He holds a BA from Ohio University, an MA from Miami University and a Ph.D. from the Ohio State University. All of his degrees are in history. In addition, he holds the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, conferred by the Wright State University. Dr. Crouch is the author or editor of over a dozen books, and many articles for both popular magazines and scholarly journals. Crouch's leading books include: The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright; A Dream of Wings: Americans and the Airplane, 1875-1905; Eagle Aloft: Two Centuries of the Balloon in America; and Wings: A History of Aviation from Kites to the Space Age. The author has won a number of major writing awards, including the history book prizes offered by both the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Aviation/Space Writers Association a Christopher Award, and the AIAA Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature Prize for 2005. In the fall of 2000, President Clinton appointed Dr. Crouch to the Chairmanship of the First Flight Centennial Federal Advisory Board.