Joseph V. Foa, a former Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute professor, died March 31 of a heart attack while at his home. He was 87.
Mr. Foa was born in Turin, Italy. He received doctorates in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Turin in 1931 and in aeronautical engineering from the University of Rome in 1933.
He was a grandson of the Grand Rabbi of Turin and a cousin of the writer Primo Levi. The travails of the Foa family under the anti-Semitic regime of Mussolini are chronicled in the book ''Benevolence and Betrayal'' by Alexander Stille. In 1939, Foa fled his homeland. As World War II broke out, he set sail from Antwerp for the United States aboard the Westernland, opting to take that steamship rather than the Athenia, which departed the same day, because the fare was $20 cheaper. The Athenia was later torpedoed by a German submarine.
Foa worked at the Curtis-Wright Aeronautical Laboratory in Buffalo, which after the war became the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, where he headed the propulsion group. In 1952, Foa joined the faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy as professor of aeronautical engineering and eventually became the department's head. In 1970, he accepted a professorship at George Washington University. He retired in 1980.
He was the author of 75 technical papers and the textbook ''Elements of Flight Propulsion,'' and held seven patents, the last awarded in 1989.
Survivors include his wife, Lucy Foa; four daughters, Lelia Dyer of Potomac, Md., Sylvana Foa of New York City, Eugenie August of Parsippany, N.J., and Gay Weeks of Newport Beach, Calif.; a brother, Vittorio Foa of Rome, Italy; his sister, Anna Yona of Cambridge, Mass.; and six grandchildren.
Times Union, The (Albany, NY) - April 5, 1996
Mr. Foa was born in Turin, Italy. He received doctorates in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Turin in 1931 and in aeronautical engineering from the University of Rome in 1933.
He was a grandson of the Grand Rabbi of Turin and a cousin of the writer Primo Levi. The travails of the Foa family under the anti-Semitic regime of Mussolini are chronicled in the book ''Benevolence and Betrayal'' by Alexander Stille. In 1939, Foa fled his homeland. As World War II broke out, he set sail from Antwerp for the United States aboard the Westernland, opting to take that steamship rather than the Athenia, which departed the same day, because the fare was $20 cheaper. The Athenia was later torpedoed by a German submarine.
Foa worked at the Curtis-Wright Aeronautical Laboratory in Buffalo, which after the war became the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, where he headed the propulsion group. In 1952, Foa joined the faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy as professor of aeronautical engineering and eventually became the department's head. In 1970, he accepted a professorship at George Washington University. He retired in 1980.
He was the author of 75 technical papers and the textbook ''Elements of Flight Propulsion,'' and held seven patents, the last awarded in 1989.
Survivors include his wife, Lucy Foa; four daughters, Lelia Dyer of Potomac, Md., Sylvana Foa of New York City, Eugenie August of Parsippany, N.J., and Gay Weeks of Newport Beach, Calif.; a brother, Vittorio Foa of Rome, Italy; his sister, Anna Yona of Cambridge, Mass.; and six grandchildren.
Times Union, The (Albany, NY) - April 5, 1996
Joseph V. Foa, a former Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute professor, died March 31 of a heart attack while at his home. He was 87.
Mr. Foa was born in Turin, Italy. He received doctorates in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Turin in 1931 and in aeronautical engineering from the University of Rome in 1933.
He was a grandson of the Grand Rabbi of Turin and a cousin of the writer Primo Levi. The travails of the Foa family under the anti-Semitic regime of Mussolini are chronicled in the book ''Benevolence and Betrayal'' by Alexander Stille. In 1939, Foa fled his homeland. As World War II broke out, he set sail from Antwerp for the United States aboard the Westernland, opting to take that steamship rather than the Athenia, which departed the same day, because the fare was $20 cheaper. The Athenia was later torpedoed by a German submarine.
Foa worked at the Curtis-Wright Aeronautical Laboratory in Buffalo, which after the war became the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, where he headed the propulsion group. In 1952, Foa joined the faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy as professor of aeronautical engineering and eventually became the department's head. In 1970, he accepted a professorship at George Washington University. He retired in 1980.
He was the author of 75 technical papers and the textbook ''Elements of Flight Propulsion,'' and held seven patents, the last awarded in 1989.
Survivors include his wife, Lucy Foa; four daughters, Lelia Dyer of Potomac, Md., Sylvana Foa of New York City, Eugenie August of Parsippany, N.J., and Gay Weeks of Newport Beach, Calif.; a brother, Vittorio Foa of Rome, Italy; his sister, Anna Yona of Cambridge, Mass.; and six grandchildren.
Times Union, The (Albany, NY) - April 5, 1996
Mr. Foa was born in Turin, Italy. He received doctorates in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Turin in 1931 and in aeronautical engineering from the University of Rome in 1933.
He was a grandson of the Grand Rabbi of Turin and a cousin of the writer Primo Levi. The travails of the Foa family under the anti-Semitic regime of Mussolini are chronicled in the book ''Benevolence and Betrayal'' by Alexander Stille. In 1939, Foa fled his homeland. As World War II broke out, he set sail from Antwerp for the United States aboard the Westernland, opting to take that steamship rather than the Athenia, which departed the same day, because the fare was $20 cheaper. The Athenia was later torpedoed by a German submarine.
Foa worked at the Curtis-Wright Aeronautical Laboratory in Buffalo, which after the war became the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, where he headed the propulsion group. In 1952, Foa joined the faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy as professor of aeronautical engineering and eventually became the department's head. In 1970, he accepted a professorship at George Washington University. He retired in 1980.
He was the author of 75 technical papers and the textbook ''Elements of Flight Propulsion,'' and held seven patents, the last awarded in 1989.
Survivors include his wife, Lucy Foa; four daughters, Lelia Dyer of Potomac, Md., Sylvana Foa of New York City, Eugenie August of Parsippany, N.J., and Gay Weeks of Newport Beach, Calif.; a brother, Vittorio Foa of Rome, Italy; his sister, Anna Yona of Cambridge, Mass.; and six grandchildren.
Times Union, The (Albany, NY) - April 5, 1996
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