Lawrence Cargnino

2012 Co-op Hall of Fame Inductee

Lawrence T. “Larry” Cargnino, MSAA ’48, served as professor emeritis for the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University for 39 years. Cargnino was one of the original faculty members from the school of engineering’s inception in 1945. He helped develop a cooperative education program that, today, still exists in the school.

Cargnino spent part of his career with the Army Air Corp. working at Chanute Field, Rantoul, Ill., and Seymour Johnson Field in Goldsboro, N.C. He also worked at Ford’s aircraft plant in Willow Run, Mich., and the Boeing aircraft plant in Seattle, Wash., where the B-24 and B-29 bomber aircrafts were built, respectively. Cargnino joined the Purdue School of Aeronautical Engineering as an instructor in September 1945, only two months after the school was formed; was promoted to assistant professor in 1949; and associate professor in 1960.

In his early days at Purdue, Cargnino helped develop an air transportation program, which later became part of the school’s curriculum. He also expanded and developed his expertise in propulsion to include turbo jet, turbo prop, and rocket-type propulsion; and was the major co-author of a college text in aerospace propulsion. During Cargnino’s retirement in 1995, he co-authored a book titled: “One Small Step – a History of the First 50 Years of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue.”

During his tenure at Purdue, Cargnino was chairman for the Parking and Traffic Committee; served on the University Senate Committee; and was a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Cargnino also was the faculty sponsor for the Purdue Glider Club; and developed and produced a weekly program on WBAA titled: “This Week in Aviation”.

Cargnino graduated from Girard High School in 1931; Illinois State University in 1941; Pratt and Whitney Engineering Officers Engine School in 1942; and Purdue University in 1948. He married Frances E. O’Reilly in 1944; and together they had four daughters, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.