Florida Institute of Technology
Posted by: 
Markerman62
N 28° 03.964 W 080° 37.492
17R E 536861 N 3104577
In front of F.I.T. on S. Country Club Rd. in Melbourne.
Waymark Code: WMENGM
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 06/18/2012
Views: 15
A 37-cent donation, given to Florida Institute of Technology founder Jerome P. Keuper (1921-2002), would launch one of the most remarkable stories in American higher education. Keuper, a scientist working at Cape Canaveral, founded Florida Tech in 1958 to meet a critical need for scientists and engineers in America's race for space. Florida Tech quickly attracted the world's foremost rocket scientists and engineers to its halls. It awarded its first honorary doctorate in 1962 to astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom. Among its first visiting professors were the legendary rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and Edward Teller, the father of the hydrogen bomb. Over the years, Florida Tech expanded its course offerings to take advantage of its unique location where the land, sea, sky and space come together. It has done so while maintaining internationally recognized excellence, and its ties to the space program. It counts among its graduates five astronauts, including two who flew together on Space Shuttle Discovery in December, 2006, Joan Higginbotham and Sunita Williams
Marker Number: F-610
Date: 2007
County: Brevard
Marker Type: Roadside
Sponsored or placed by: The Florida Institute of Technology Alumni Association and the Florida Department of State
Website: [Web Link]
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