Building the MythDoctor or Professor?
In 1956, NACA Air Scoop newsletter presented Rogallo. It did not mention him as a Doctor or Professor. Nor did any further publication by NACA or NASA, including when The Langley Researcher announced, in 1963, the $35,000 cash award that NASA gave him.
As early as 1961 (June issue of Popular Mechanics), and in many books, magazines, forums, etc., Rogallo has been called Doctor. The British Hang Gliding Federation (BHPA) awarded him two life memberships, once as a Doctor and once as a Professor; each of these honourifics must be bestowed by a recognised university or college, to faculty members who have earned a PhD.
In 1988, after meeting Rogallo as part of a television documentary, John Dickenson stated in a fax sent to the producer, “Dr Rogallo had a PhD in aero-engineering”. (btm-19)
Who told all these people that Rogallo was a doctor? He wasn’t one.