Charles “Chuck” Tiffany Collection

Charles F. “Chuck” Tiffany was born in 1929 and raised in Aitkin, Minnesota. After graduating from Aitkin High School in 1947 he attended Macalester College and the University of Minnesota where he received degrees in Civil Engineering and Mathematics. In 1952 he joined the Boeing Aircraft Company in Seattle as a stress analyst.





His career with Boeing (28 years) and the U.S.A.F. (8 years) progressed to Executive Vice-President of the Boeing Military Airplane Company. After retiring from Boeing in 1988, he was a private consultant on aircraft and aerospace vehicle structures for the U.S.A.F., D.O.D., NASA, FAA, National Academy of Engineering (N.A.E.), National Research Council, and all of industry.





Tiffany’s area of expertise was airframe and propulsion structural design and damage tolerance. He led the development of new structural standards and specifications for improving aircraft safety and durability. He was a Member of the N.A.E. and was a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (A.I.A.A.). He received numerous awards and honors throughout his lifetime, including the Von Karman Memorial Award, the A.I.A.A. Structures, Material and Dynamics Award, the American Society of Mechanical Engineer's "The Spirit of St. Louis Medal," the John W. Lincoln Award, and the FAA Gold Medal. His work was captured in numerous technical papers and reports, including most recently, "Aging of U.S. Air Force Aircraft" and "Threats to Aircraft Structural Safety, Including a Compendium of Selected Structural Accidents/Incidents."





Charles Tiffany died October 12, 2014, in Tucson, AZ.