Troy, N.Y. — A permanent exhibit of NASA memorabilia and other materials that honor the life of former Rensselaer President George M. Low ’48 has been created at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was dedicated today. A Rensselaer alumnus, Low headed the Apollo Program that landed Americans on the moon in 1969. He became the university’s 14th president in 1976.

The Low Gallery is open daily to the public and was made possible by a gift from the Low family. The Gallery is located on the fourth floor of the George M. Low ’48 Center for Industrial Innovation in the heart of the Rensselaer campus.

“We dedicate this gallery in honor of a man who was an exemplary Rensselaer alumnus, an inspiring technological leader, and a gifted Rensselaer president,” said Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer. “Thanks to Mary R. Low and the Low family, we are able to bring home to Rensselaer these artifacts - not only of a distinguished career, but of a bold and exciting adventure in American technological achievement,” Jackson said.

The Low Gallery, which is reminiscent of the inside of a space shuttle, includes items of personal and professional significance, such as historic National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) memorabilia, autographed pictures of astronauts, Low’s Presidential Medal of Freedom, even one of Low’s favorite green pens.

Low earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aeronautical engineering from Rensselaer in 1948 and 1950. He began work as a research scientist for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the forerunner to NASA. After a stint in the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland, Low later joined NASA as the first chief of manned space flight programs and embarked on an illustrious and demanding career that touched on the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo Projects.

“[Low] challenged our country to seek out the ultimate reaches of the unknown,” said former Governor of New York Hugh Carey, as quoted in a gallery display. “Like Magellan, Columbus, and Henry Hudson, he sought through discovery to teach us the wonders of our own planet.”

Samuel Heffner ’56, chair of Rensselaer’s board of trustees, said: “One of the 20th century’s true visionaries, George Low directed man’s most challenging and spectacular space events with the NASA Apollo Program’s successful series of landing men on the moon. His organizational genius made the seemingly impossible a reality. As the 14th president of Rensselaer, [Low] began the process of preparing the nation’s oldest school of engineering, his alma mater, for a leading world role in 21st-century education.”

After 27 years at NASA, Low took Rensselaer’s helm in 1976 as its president and immediately began implementing his “Rensselaer 2000 Plan,” which ultimately helped establish the Incubator Program and the Rensselaer Technology Park. His leadership invigorated economic development in the Capital Region and beyond. Low died in 1984.

Contact: Caroline Jenkins
Phone: (518) 276-6531
E-mail: N/A