		Professor Emeritus Peter Bielkowicz Peter Bielkowicz was born in Kiev in 1902, the son of an Artillery General of the Imperial Russian (Czarist) Army, and spent his childhood in Vilna. During World War I, his family was evacuated to Central Russia. With the revolution and the fall of the Russian Empire, his formal education suffered and as a teenager, he worked in a coal mine to sustain himself. Upon his return to Poland he passed an examination equivalent to high school and entered the University of Wilno. While a student he published his first paper on space travel in a local magazine (1928) and he earned Magister Filozoff (Master of Philosophy) Mathematics (1930). He then attended Ecole Nationale Superieure de I'Aeronautiaue in Paris where he earned the degree Diplome D'Ingenieur Civil de l'.Aeronautique (Diploma Engineer of Aeronatities) in 1933. From 1933 to 1939 he worked as an aircraft designer in Poland and published a series of papers in the Polish Technical Review. With the German invasion of Poland in 1939, he was called into service in the Polish Artillery and served bravely until ordered to go to France where he worked in an aircraft factory until the fall of France. He then escaped to Spain but was placed in a concentration camp from March of 1941 until January of 1943. While there he taught courses in materials, elasticity, navigation, calculus, algebra, and astronomy in French, Polish, and Spanish. Upon his release, he reached England in March of 1943 and joined the technical staff of the Polish Air Force. In 1946-1947 he published a series of six articles in Aircraft Engineering under the heading "Evolution of Energy in Jet and Rocket Propulsion." From 1947 to 1951 he lectured at the Polish University College in London, and in 1951 he came to the United States to join the faculty of Brown University. Professor Bielkowicz joined the faculty of the AFIT School of Engineering in July of 1953 as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1954, and to Professor in 1959. He developed and taught courses in many fields, including aerodynamics, flight mechanics, ballistics, mathematics, and astrodynamics. He created the Institute’s first courses in space mechanics and spaceflight. His astrodynamics courses were a central focus of the AFIT Astronautics program introduced in 1958. During his service at AFIT, he guided over 30 student research projects and presented or published nineteen papers and articles. He brought very realistic current experience to the classroom through continuing activity as a consultant to several Air Force agencies on problems of space flight and orbital mechanics, to the Allison Division of General Motors on propulsion, and to the Boeing Aircraft Company where he spent five summers advising on numerous projects, including the design of the lunar lander. When he reached the mandatory age of retirement in 1972 he was appointed to the rank of Professor Emeritus of Aeronautical Engineering. Professor Bielkowicz was an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, an Associate Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society. He was a member of Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Xi. Professor Emeritus Bielkowicz made many substantial contributions to AFIT, the Air Force, and to his professional field. He was always pleasant, challenging to his students and his colleagues, and the epitome of what a gentleman and a scholar should be. He is remembered as a positive influence on all that knew him.

Professor Emeritus Peter Bielkowicz

Peter Bielkowicz was born in Kiev in 1902, the son of an Artillery General of the Imperial Russian (Czarist) Army, and spent his childhood in Vilna. During World War I, his family was evacuated to Central Russia. With the revolution and the fall of the Russian Empire, his formal education suffered and as a teenager, he worked in a coal mine to sustain himself. Upon his return to Poland he passed an examination equivalent to high school and entered the University of Wilno. While a student he published his first paper on space travel in a local magazine (1928) and he earned Magister Filozoff (Master of Philosophy) Mathematics (1930). He then attended Ecole Nationale Superieure de I'Aeronautiaue in Paris where he earned the degree Diplome D'Ingenieur Civil de l'.Aeronautique (Diploma Engineer of Aeronatities) in 1933.

From 1933 to 1939 he worked as an aircraft designer in Poland and published a series of papers in the Polish Technical Review. With the German invasion of Poland in 1939, he was called into service in the Polish Artillery and served bravely until ordered to go to France where he worked in an aircraft factory until the fall of France. He then escaped to Spain but was placed in a concentration camp from March of 1941 until January of 1943. While there he taught courses in materials, elasticity, navigation, calculus, algebra, and astronomy in French, Polish, and Spanish. Upon his release, he reached England in March of 1943 and joined the technical staff of the Polish Air Force. In 1946-1947 he published a series of six articles in Aircraft Engineering under the heading "Evolution of Energy in Jet and Rocket Propulsion." From 1947 to 1951 he lectured at the Polish University College in London, and in 1951 he came to the United States to join the faculty of Brown University.

Professor Bielkowicz joined the faculty of the AFIT School of Engineering in July of 1953 as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1954, and to Professor in 1959. He developed and taught courses in many fields, including aerodynamics, flight mechanics, ballistics, mathematics, and astrodynamics. He created the Institute’s first courses in space mechanics and spaceflight. His astrodynamics courses were a central focus of the AFIT Astronautics program introduced in 1958.

During his service at AFIT, he guided over 30 student research projects and presented or published nineteen papers and articles. He brought very realistic current experience to the classroom through continuing activity as a consultant to several Air Force agencies on problems of space flight and orbital mechanics, to the Allison Division of General Motors on propulsion, and to the Boeing Aircraft Company where he spent five summers advising on numerous projects, including the design of the lunar lander.

When he reached the mandatory age of retirement in 1972 he was appointed to the rank of Professor Emeritus of Aeronautical Engineering. Professor Bielkowicz was an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, an Associate Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society. He was a member of Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Xi.

Professor Emeritus Bielkowicz made many substantial contributions to AFIT, the Air Force, and to his professional field. He was always pleasant, challenging to his students and his colleagues, and the epitome of what a gentleman and a scholar should be. He is remembered as a positive influence on all that knew him.