Personal: Male. Born in USA.

Emerson W. Conlon received an aeronautical engineering degree from MIT in 1929 and spent 12 years in private engineering before joining the aeronautical engineering department at the University of Michigan in 1937. He went on active duty with the Navy in 1942 and later directed the development of the Douglas D-558, a transonic research aircraft. He returned to Michigan as chair of the aeronautical engineering department and remained in that position until 1953, with a year's leave of absence in 1950- 1951 as technical director of the Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center. He spent some years with Fairchild Engine Division and as general manager of Curtiss-Wright's Turbomotor Division before becoming research director of Drexel Institute of Technology in 1958. In 1959-1960 he was on a leave of absence from Drexel to serve as NASA's assistant director for power plants in the office of advanced research programs.