George Michael Low  was a NASA administrator and 14th President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. George Michael Low was born George Wilhelm Low on June 10, 1926, near Vienna, Austria. Received his Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1948. He then worked at Convair in Fort Worth, Texas, as a mathematician in an aerodynamics group. Low returned to RPI late in 1948, however, and received his Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1950. After completing his M.S. degree, Low joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) as an engineer at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. He became head of the Fluid Mechanics Section (1954–1956) and Chief of the Special Projects Branch (1956–1958). Low specialized in experimental and theoretical research in the fields of heat transfer, boundary layer flows, and internal aerodynamics. In addition, he worked on such space technology problems as orbit calculations, reentry paths, and space rendezvous techniques. He received the National Medal Of Science in 1983.