Robert Beacham Dillaway

Dillaway died on June 11, 2015 from complications from Alzheimer's disease in Arden Court of Fair Oaks in Fairfax, Virginia. He was buried at Columbia Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

In 1976, Dillaway served as a science consultant and the chief of the oversight task team on the Committee on Science and Technology in the U.S. House of Representatives.

He was a member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), and helped draft work record rules in the IAF World Congress for manned space flight. He also held office in the National Aeronautics Association (NAA), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He became a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1972. He also became a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

In 1968, Dillaway moved to Northern Virginia to join the U.S. Navy as Deputy Director of the Office of Program Appraisal under the U.S. Secretary of the Navy. From 1969 to 1975, Dillaway served as the Deputy for Laboratories with the U.S. Army's Army Materiel Command. While there, he directed U.S. Army research and development for the Bell XV-15 and the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey.

Dillaway joined North American Aviation as a senior engineer in 1953. While at North American Aviation, he was involved in its Rocketdyne division and helped design early missile rocket engines for the Atlas Missile program and engines for the Apollo missions. He became the director of space propulsion systems and worked there until 1964.

Robert Beacham Dillaway (November 10, 1924 – June 11, 2015) was an aeronautical engineer and executive. He was involved in developing missile rocket engines for the Atlas Missile program and the Apollo missions.

Robert Beacham Dillaway was born on November 10, 1924 in Washington, D.C., to Ida Louise (née Clark) and Robert Gardiner Dillaway. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and math in 1945. He graduated from the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a Master of Science in physics in 1951 and a PhD in mechanical engineering in 1953. He was a member of Pi Mu Epsilon.