California Institute of Technology

A Caltech establishment himself after more than a half-century since first stepping onto campus, the Theodore von Karman Professor of Aeronautics, Emeritus was a star in the highly successful track & field program and played on the last winning varsity football team in 1957.

Leonard set the 880-yard record (a time which has since converted to fifth all-time in the 800-meter run), placing a high of fourth on two occasions at the SCIAC Championships while also helping the mile relays to third- and fourth-place finishes. He contributed as much as possible to the program during a memorable senior year in which he won the Goldsworthy Track Trophy (recognizing the team MVP) while also coaching the cross country varsity and freshman teams. The ASCIT Board of Directors athletic chairman and an honor key recipient during his time as an undergraduate, he went on to become a fellow of the American Physical Society and earned election to the National Academy of Engineering.

Following his graduation, he earned his master’s degree at Stanford University and a PhD three years later, then taught nuclear engineering at the Cardinal before working on computational fluid dynamics at the NASA Ames Research Center and finally joining Caltech’s faculty in 1985.