A Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist noted for his significant contribution to advances in aerodynamics, and in particular on supersonic and hypersonic airflow behaviour. Born Szo˝llo˝skislaki Kármán Tódor, he studied engineering in Budapest before moving to Germany to join Prandtl at the University of Göttingen. He emigrated to the US in 1930 to become director of the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT). At the age of 81, he was the recipient of the first National Medal of Science, presented by President John F. Kennedy.