In 1912, a young engineer named Felix Wladyslaw Pawlowski, M.S. '14, convinced authorities that aeronautics should be taught as part of the curriculum at the University of Michigan. He held the position of Guggenheim Professor of Aeronautics in U.M.'s College of Engineering and enjoyed high esteem among men of science, not only as a teacher, but as an aeronautical researcher.

Professor Pawlowski was born near Warsaw on July 23, 1876, the son of Joanna (Wojceichowska) and Joseph Korwin Pawlowski, a Polish patriot whose medical career was ended by 18 years of exile in Siberia following a student revolt against the Russians, and who also managed a large estate. Tutoring at home by his mother laid the foundation for Pawlowski's education, and at the "Real-Gymnasium" in Warsaw it was continued. His first college work was taken in Germany at the Technical College of Mittweide, Saxony where he received the degree in mechanical and electrical engineering, Braunschweig from 1897 to 1908. When he was serving as chief engineer of a German firm operating in the former Russian part of Poland there came a crisis that was to shunt him into new fields.

It so happened that during the Russian-Japanese War, this industrial district so rich in coal and iron ore and geographically forming a part of the ancient Polish Province of Silesia, had seen fit to stage a rather mild revolution, which was promptly extinguished by the authorities. The number of "secret police" was enlarged to prevent a recurrence of trouble. Eventually, when there was nothing better to do and in order to justify holding their positions, these police indulged in subsequent "investigations" and saw fit to have Professor Pawlowski jailed, despite the fact that he was entirely innocent of intrigue. It was fortunate for him that at this time his company was in the midst of an expansion to which his presence was vital. The head of the concern was able to secure his release.

Later, however, when the demands upon him lessened, he heard that the police were again interested in him and, knowing that the mechanics of Russian justice were notoriously imperfect, he promptly packed and left the country for France.

It was at this time that the Wright brothers had just introduced the art of flying in France at Le Mans and were shortly to open their first flying school at Pau. Having witnessed these historical flights made by the Wright brothers and by their first pupils, as well as by the contemporary French pioneers, the Farman brothers, Voisin, Bleriot and others, Professor Pawlowski became interested to the extent of enrolling in the classes of Professor Louis Marchis, who in 1909, occupied the first chair of aeronautics in the world at the University of Paris. Pawlowski received the Certificate d'Etude from the University of Paris in 1910.

It is interesting to note the sequence of events from 1910 to 1912. Having earned the certificate in aeronautics, Pawlowski set out to build an airplane. His endeavors finally resulted in a monoplane with a 27 horsepower, 3 cylinder Anzani engine.

To build the plane was one proposition, to fly it was another. To familiarize himself with the plane, he spent a great deal of time taxiing along an airfield which was one square kilometer in area, at Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris. When he reached the boundary of the field, it was necessary for him to throttle down the engine, jump from the plane, grab the tail of the ship, swing it through an arc of 180 degrees, jump back to the cockpit and then taxi to the other end of the field. This procedure eliminated stopping the engine and throwing the prop at each end of the field where he might have lost an arm or two.

This new venture was tremendously expensive and reduced his resources to almost nothing. At this point, Professor Pawlowski always explained with a smile, his friends advised him to try America, where fame and fortune awaited claimants. Hence, he arrived in New York where his technical education and experience barely convinced the authorities that the four dollars and some change in his pockets could be considered a "visible means of support". He spent the next two months flitting from job to job.

Professor Pawlowski came to this country and, having been refused employment by Glenn Curtis and Orville Wright, he worked for two years in the automotive industry as a designer. At the same time, he wrote to the major engineering schools in the country, proposing to offer courses in what is now known as aeronautical engineering. His initiative was rewarded with replies from the deans of the schools-most of them asking what kind of joke he was trying to play on them or stating bluntly that aeronautics would never amount to anything worthwhile. Only two schools believed to the contrary-M.I.T. and the University of Michigan. He came to Ann Arbor, in 1912 as instructor of Mechanical Engineering. When his ideas drew favorable responses and support from the Unviersity of Michigan, he later received an N.S.E. degree from University in 1914.

The first courses at the University, which were under the direction of Pawlowski, proved to be so popular that it was necessary to extend and correlate them as one of the regular group of electives. This instruction, however, was for members of the Aero Club and was offered without credit. John H. Ledebaer's translation of Duchene's Flight Without Forumulae was used as a textbook. The regular courses in aeronautical engineering, leading to a professional degree, were organized as a group of electives in the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Only junior and senior engineering students were eligible. The curriculum was much like that for naval architecture and marine engineering students and was similar also to the courses in mechanical engineering. The aeronautical subjects were added partly at the expense of some electives.

In 1915-16 additional courses in aeronautics were added; Propulsion of Aeroplanes, which dealt with propeller design and the principle features of the various types of motors and; Aeroplane Design, which consisted of lectures and drawing room work. The details of the actual construction of an airplane were discussed and a design was made to fulfill a given set of conditions. Sixteen students were enrolled in these courses during the year.

In 1916-17 a complete four-year program of study, Program VI, leading to the bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering was arranged. In May, 1917, the degree of bachelor of science in engineering (aeronautical engineering) was established, and in June 1917, William Frederick Gerhardt became the first student to receive it.

After the declaration of war, however, and upon arrival of the Balfour-Viviani Mission, the War Department accepted the advice of the experts of our Allies and abandoned attempts to develop original airplane design, concentrating instead on the utilization of the enormous manufacturing facilities of our country for quantity production of aircraft of Allied design. Consequently, in the fall of 1917, Pawlowski returned to the University to assist in conducting a special course; Principles of Aviation, which permitted students drafted into the Army to qualify or to claim preference for Air Corps service. The courses given during that year were: General Aeronautics, Theory of Aviation, Propeller Design, Airplane Design, Aeronautical Laboratory and Aeronautical Motor Design. A two hour course in "ground" instruction for future flyers was open to students from other schools and colleges on the campus.

Pawlowski was promoted to an associate professorship of aeronautical engineering and was relieved of further teaching duties in mechanical engineering. During the first semester of 1918-19, work in aeronautical engineering was conducted by Pawlowski alone. Most of the students in the first course wished instead to qualify for service in the Air Corps.

Plans for the East Engineering Building provided for a new wind tunnel and in 1924 Pawlowski visited Europe to study the development of aeronautics and to obtain information to aid in the installation of the wind tunnel. It was finally completed with the aid of a gift of $28,000 from the Guggenheim Fund in 1926. It has been outdistanced by wind tunnels built subsequently, but that is one of the penalties of being a pioneer. In 1929 Pawlowski was appointed to the Guggenhiem professorship. Professor Pawlowski was the author of numerous articles and papers in American and European professional publications.

Research became increasingly important in the development of the department. The wind tunnel was used to conduct tests for industrial concerns, and a study of the downflow of gases behind power plant gas stacks and other experiments were carried out as a result of the acquisition of a multiple-tube manometer and a darkroom for photographic work. New equipment was acquired as the need for it arose. A suction blower and auxiliary equipment were installed to test the resistance of automobiles by streamlining. With the aid of C.W.A. labor in 1933-34, a propeller dynamometer, a small portable smoke tunnel and dynamic stability dynamometer were completed. In 1934, a small wind tunnel was constructed with the aid of F.E.R.A. and N.Y.A. Labor This tunnel was a single-return type with a cross section twenty-one inches by twenty-two inches by thirty-one inches at the experimental chamber.

Research projects were completed by staff for such groups as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, Beech Aircraft Corporation, United Electric and Manufacturing Company, the Bell Aircraft Corp., and the Wincharger Corporation. Extensive commercial tests of a one-tenth scale model of the "Electra", America's first all-metal airplane, were conducted for the Lockheed Aircraft Company of Burbank, California. These tests were later substantiated by flight tests of the production airplane. One student, Clarence L. Johnson, who had helped with the tests, later became chief research engineer for Lockheed. He also received the Sperry Award in 1938.

Upon completion of a pilot-training course which was set up in 1939 under sponsorship of the Civil Aeronautics Authority, the student received a civilian pilot's license. The program proved to be very successful, branching into primary and secondary courses. In 1942, because it was conducted in connection with the war effort, the name of the course was changed from Civilian Pilot Training to War Training Service. It was discontinued in August, 1943.

Research began on the application of magnesium to aircraft structures. The aero engineering department at the University of Michigan co-operated with the Dow Chemical Company in producing a wing Model SNJ-1 airplane for the Bureau of Aeronautics. This was the first magnesium aircraft structure to demonstrate a definite weight saving over the corresponding aluminum alloy structure.

Airplane model tests were conducted for the Ford Motor Company and the Lee Wendt Company of Chicago; wind pressure and rain penetration tests were carried out for the Celotex Corporation of Chicago; and an investigation of the pressure distribution over a steel hut for Army use was completed for the Stran Steel Division of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation. Several confidential projects were undertaken for the Army Air Corp in conjunction with the Engineering Research Institute.

More than thirty years after he had first kindled an interest in aviation at the University of Michigan. Professor Pawlowski retired in 1946 to live at Pau, France. Members of the engineering department and all others who knew him experienced a feeling of great loss when news was received that he had died on February 17, 1951.