FAMOUS CROATS, GEORGE MARTIN SKURLA

GEORGE MARTIN SKURLA (1921–2001), an American aeronautical engineer of Croatian descent, was responsible for the production and success of the lunar modules for NASA's Apollo program, which enabled humans to land on the Moon, as well as the production of military aircraft such as the F-14 Tomcat and A-6 Intruder. During the Cold War, George M. Skurla held the highest positions in the then-largest American military corporation, Grumman, where he also became president. George M. Skurla's main contribution to the Apollo program was the production of lunar modules for the Apollo missions, the spacecraft that carried astronauts to the Moon's surface during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. This achievement marked a milestone and a strategic victory for the United States over the Soviet Union in the space race. In the military industry, he is distinguished by leading the project for the production of the F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft (famous from the 1986 film Top Gun), which served for decades as the main and strategic fighter jet of the U.S. Navy, as well as the A-6 Intruder aircraft. In his long career as an engineer and manager, he held numerous high-ranking positions in the largest American military corporation during the Cold War – Grumman Corporation, eventually becoming its president in 1985. This led him to become a close associate and friend of American presidents. George M. Skurla was born in the United States, in Newark, New Jersey, on 2 July 1921, to parents who were both immigrants from Croatia, and his surname was originally Škurla. His father was Martin Škurla from the Dubrovnik area, and his mother was Marija Kraljević from Zagreb. He was educated in public schools in his hometown of Newark and West Orange, New Jersey, and later went on to study at the University of Michigan, where he graduated in 1944 with a degree in aeronautical engineering. In the same year, he started working as an intern at Grumman Corporation, where he achieved his greatest career successes. His career developed rapidly; by 1950, he had his first management role as the head of aircraft testing, followed by becoming the chief engineer at a company owned by Grumman. He then returned to Grumman, taking on other high-level positions, and in 1965, he was appointed director of Grumman operations at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. There, he gathered a team of 1,600 experts responsible for the assembly, testing and final checks of the lunar modules, which were the crowning achievement of the Apollo program. After the success of the Apollo 11 mission, his lunar module saved the crew of Apollo 13, who, after an accident in space, safely returned to Earth with it, despite the spacecraft not being designed for that purpose. In 1973, Skurla was appointed chief operating officer at Calverton on Long Island, where he led the production projects for the F-14 Tomcat and A-6 Intruder aircraft. In 1976, he became the director of Grumman Aerospace Corporation, the division responsible for the development and production of all the aircraft manufactured by the corporation, and in 1985, he was appointed president of the entire corporation. A year later, he retired and continued working as a consultant. He died in Melbourne, Florida on 2 September 2001, and was buried in Westbury, Long Island. During his lifetime and posthumously, he received numerous honors and was a member of many prestigious organizations. At the Florida Institute of Technology, the aeronautical school building is named after George M. Skurla, and there is an annual award for outstanding alumni who have achieved success in the aviation and space industries. Antun Kraljević, Master of Political Sciences (mag. pol.)