Leonard Greene
Encyclopedia
Leonard Michael Greene was an American inventor and aerodynamics
engineer
who held more than 200 patents, many of which are aviation-related. He is most well known for his contributions to aviation
technology
, including his invention, the Aircraft Stall Warning device, which warns pilots when a deadly aerodynamic stall
is imminent. To build the device, Greene established the Safe Flight Instrument Corporation in 1946.
Apart from his inventive life, Greene also served as the founder and president of the Institute for Socioeconomic Studies, a think tank to address issues such as poverty and social awareness. Additionally, he co-founded the Corporate Angel Network
, a charitable organization
that flies patients in corporate aircraft. In 1991, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame
. Greene died on November 30, 2006 at the age of 88 in Mamaroneck, New York
. The cause was complications from lung cancer
.
on June 8, 1918. Max Greene, his chemist father, and Lyn Furman Greene, his artist mother, encouraged their son to create his own toys. His parents made him a gift of their old stove, which he could take apart. Greene experienced poverty as a youth during the Depression
and never forgot it.
Greene first married Beverly Kaufman, with whom he had three children; this, however, ended in divorce. Then, he adopted four children of his second wife, Phyllis Saks Greene, with whom he had another child. Phyllis Saks Greene, an heiress of the Saks Fifth Avenue
department store family, died in 1965. Greene’s third marriage was to Joyce Teck Meller in 1967, which also ended up in divorce in 2005.
A son from the second marriage, Donald Greene
, died September 11, 2001, abroad United Airlines Flight 93
when it crashed in Pennsylvania
.
with a B.S.
in Chemistry
, and went on to receive a M.S.
in aeronautical engineering. He received a pilot’s license at the age of 19 and later did postgraduate work in aeronautics at the Guggenheim School of Aeronautics at New York University
.
In 1977, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Civil Law honoris causa by Pace University
.
, Greene joined the Grumman Aircraft Corporation in Bethpage, NY, as an aerodynamicist and engineering test pilot
. There he witnessed an aircraft crash caused by stall. In aviation, a stall occurs when the airflow over the wings is no longer sufficient to provide lift
– essentially, a stalled wing ceases to function. This happens at low airspeeds or during steep climbs. Greene realized that the accident could have been avoided if the pilot had been warned of an imminent stall. Aerodynamic stalls caused the majority of aviation deaths at the time.
In the mid-1940s, Greene developed the first practical way to warn the pilot of the aerodynamic stall. His first design and apparatus included threaded bolts
, a bicycle horn and other odd components, all powered by flashlight
batteries
. Greene filed his device for a patent in 1944, and the patent was issued in 1949. In order to develop his design, Greene founded the Safe Flight Instrument Corporation in White Plains, NY, in 1946. There, he refined and marketed the stall warning indicator.
Basically, his device sounded an alert when the plane was in danger of not having enough lift to stay flying. This alert would allow time for the pilot to take corrective measures. Since its invention, this device became standard equipment for all aircraft and has also helped reduce the number of accidents due to stalling. The Stall Warning Indicator was called “the greatest lifesaver since the invention of the parachute
”[14] by the Saturday Evening Post and the device received the Flight Safety Foundation
’s first Air Safety Award.
in 1956 and a wind-shear
warning system that warns a pilot if an aircraft enters a dangerous microburst
and provides escape guidance. He developed the latter in the late 1970s after a series of wind-shear-related crashes that claimed hundreds of lives.
– he turned to the earthworm
for inspiration. Just as an earthworm eats and excretes the earth to move past mounds of dirt, he figured a supersonic aircraft's deafening boom is caused from its inability to move air out of its way fast enough to avoid external shock waves
. He patented a device, sold to Boeing
in 1994, that would use a hollow fuselage
and strategically placed ducts to suck in, compress, and then release air through a plane's tail.
Safe Flight made Leonard Greene a multimillionaire. He remained involved in the business until his death and as recently as 1998 co-patented and marketed an airborne power line detector and warning system for helicopters.
game, a device to aid blind
painters by using musical notes to identify colors, and an instrument of revenge against telemarketers who interrupted dinner. When a pitchman called, the harassed resident could press a code that alerted the marketer that he would be liable for a surcharge for continuing the call.
Seeking a broader forum and greater impact for his ideas, in 1974 he founded and financed the Institute for Socioeconomic Studies (ISES), a small policy research organization in White Plains, NY, that helped advance his ideas on welfare reform, health care, tax reform – and after Greene’s son was killed in the September 11 attacks in 2001 – foreign affairs.
According to Ostergren, who worked with Green at ISES, “He didn’t consider himself a Republican
or Democrat
, conservative or liberal
,”13 but searched for practical solutions to problems that intrigued him. He advocated a national tax rebate – $12,000 for any family of four, regardless of income, for instance – to alleviate poverty.
Greene criticized the Great Society
anti-poverty programs of the 1960s as ineffective, a waste of taxpayer dollars, and a disincentive to work.
He has also made his mark as a social activis
t, having designed a plan to transform the federal social budget to provide greater income security, middle class tax relief, and market incentives for productivity growth.
In pursuit of these interests, Greene was a member of both the Special Committee on Welfare & Income Maintenance and the Council on Trends & Perspectives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He also served as a member in the Income Maintenance Committee of the Community Service Society and the Work Group on Welfare Reform of the Task Force on the New York City
Fiscal Crisis.
(CAN), a charitable organization
which arranges free transportation on corporate jets for cancer
patients. This organization has 530 participating corporations who generously offer their empty seats to cancer patients. CAN flies more than 2,500 cancer patients a year. To date, the organization has flown more than 25,000 patients to treatment centers nationwide.
Greene flew the first Corporate Angel Network Flight on December 22, 1981, when he brought a 16-year old cancer patient home to Detroit who had just received treatment in New York City
.
races before buying two-time winner Courageous
from Ted Turner
in the early 1980s. Sailing under the aegis of the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club
, the only undergraduate sailing club ever to participate, the Courageous Syndicates 1986 run at the Cup spearheaded Greene's campaign to restore the Corinthian
ideals of amateur sportsmanship to the competition, and more broadly, to team sports in general. Despite several of Greene's modifications to the keel
, the boat's age remained a problem, and his team withdrew during the 1986 competition. Following the 1997 donation of Courageous to the Museum of Yachting in Newport, RI, the famed 12-meter was named Rhode Island's State Yacht.
Aerodynamics
Aerodynamics is a branch of dynamics concerned with studying the motion of air, particularly when it interacts with a moving object. Aerodynamics is a subfield of fluid dynamics and gas dynamics, with much theory shared between them. Aerodynamics is often used synonymously with gas dynamics, with...
engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
who held more than 200 patents, many of which are aviation-related. He is most well known for his contributions to aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, including his invention, the Aircraft Stall Warning device, which warns pilots when a deadly aerodynamic stall
Stall (flight)
In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack increases. This occurs when the critical angle of attack of the foil is exceeded...
is imminent. To build the device, Greene established the Safe Flight Instrument Corporation in 1946.
Apart from his inventive life, Greene also served as the founder and president of the Institute for Socioeconomic Studies, a think tank to address issues such as poverty and social awareness. Additionally, he co-founded the Corporate Angel Network
Corporate Angel Network
The Corporate Angel Network is an American non-profit charitable organization whose mission is to arrange free air travel for cancer patients to treatment centers by using the empty seats on corporate aircraft flying on routine business. They are based in White Plains, NY, and operate from an...
, a charitable organization
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
that flies patients in corporate aircraft. In 1991, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Inventors Hall of Fame
The National Inventors Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recognizing, honoring and encouraging invention and creativity through the administration of its programs. The Hall of Fame honors the men and women responsible for the great technological advances that make human,...
. Greene died on November 30, 2006 at the age of 88 in Mamaroneck, New York
Mamaroneck (town), New York
Mamaroneck is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 29,156 at the 2010 census. There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Village of Mamaroneck...
. The cause was complications from lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
.
Early life & family
Leonard M. Greene was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on June 8, 1918. Max Greene, his chemist father, and Lyn Furman Greene, his artist mother, encouraged their son to create his own toys. His parents made him a gift of their old stove, which he could take apart. Greene experienced poverty as a youth during the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and never forgot it.
Greene first married Beverly Kaufman, with whom he had three children; this, however, ended in divorce. Then, he adopted four children of his second wife, Phyllis Saks Greene, with whom he had another child. Phyllis Saks Greene, an heiress of the Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue is a luxury American specialty store owned and operated by Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises , a subsidiary of Saks Incorporated. It competes in the high-end specialty store market in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, i.e. 'the 3 B's' Bergdorf, Barneys, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor...
department store family, died in 1965. Greene’s third marriage was to Joyce Teck Meller in 1967, which also ended up in divorce in 2005.
A son from the second marriage, Donald Greene
Donald Greene
Donald Johnson Greene was a literary critic, English professor, and scholar of British literature, particularly the eighteenth-century period. Known especially for his work on Samuel Johnson, he also wrote on later authors such as Jane Austen, Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, and Donald Davie.Greene...
, died September 11, 2001, abroad United Airlines Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93 was United Airlines' scheduled morning transcontinental flight across the United States from Newark International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco International Airport in California. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the Boeing 757–222 aircraft operating the...
when it crashed in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
Education
Leonard Greene graduated in 1938 from the City College of New YorkCity College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
with a B.S.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, and went on to receive a M.S.
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
in aeronautical engineering. He received a pilot’s license at the age of 19 and later did postgraduate work in aeronautics at the Guggenheim School of Aeronautics at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
.
In 1977, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Civil Law honoris causa by Pace University
Pace University
Pace University is an American private, co-educational, and comprehensive multi-campus university in the New York metropolitan area with campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York.-Programs:...
.
Stall Warning Device
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Greene joined the Grumman Aircraft Corporation in Bethpage, NY, as an aerodynamicist and engineering test pilot
Test pilot
A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
. There he witnessed an aircraft crash caused by stall. In aviation, a stall occurs when the airflow over the wings is no longer sufficient to provide lift
Lift (force)
A fluid flowing past the surface of a body exerts a surface force on it. Lift is the component of this force that is perpendicular to the oncoming flow direction. It contrasts with the drag force, which is the component of the surface force parallel to the flow direction...
– essentially, a stalled wing ceases to function. This happens at low airspeeds or during steep climbs. Greene realized that the accident could have been avoided if the pilot had been warned of an imminent stall. Aerodynamic stalls caused the majority of aviation deaths at the time.
In the mid-1940s, Greene developed the first practical way to warn the pilot of the aerodynamic stall. His first design and apparatus included threaded bolts
Screw
A screw, or bolt, is a type of fastener characterized by a helical ridge, known as an external thread or just thread, wrapped around a cylinder. Some screw threads are designed to mate with a complementary thread, known as an internal thread, often in the form of a nut or an object that has the...
, a bicycle horn and other odd components, all powered by flashlight
Flashlight
A flashlight is a hand-held electric-powered light source. Usually the light source is a small incandescent lightbulb or light-emitting diode...
batteries
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
. Greene filed his device for a patent in 1944, and the patent was issued in 1949. In order to develop his design, Greene founded the Safe Flight Instrument Corporation in White Plains, NY, in 1946. There, he refined and marketed the stall warning indicator.
Basically, his device sounded an alert when the plane was in danger of not having enough lift to stay flying. This alert would allow time for the pilot to take corrective measures. Since its invention, this device became standard equipment for all aircraft and has also helped reduce the number of accidents due to stalling. The Stall Warning Indicator was called “the greatest lifesaver since the invention of the parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
”[14] by the Saturday Evening Post and the device received the Flight Safety Foundation
Flight Safety Foundation
Flight Safety Foundation is an independent, nonprofit, international organization dedicated to research, education, advocacy and publishing in the field of air safety. FSF brings together aviation professionals from all the sectors to help solve safety problems facing the industry...
’s first Air Safety Award.
Automatic Throttle System & Wind Shear Warning System
After developing the Stall Warning Device, Greene continued developing aviation inventions. He and his engineering staff at Safe Flight went on to conceive devices now commonplace in aircraft, including an automatic throttle systemAutothrottle
An autothrottle allows a pilot to control the power setting of an aircraft's engines by specifying a desired flight characteristic, rather than manually controlling fuel flow...
in 1956 and a wind-shear
Wind shear
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...
warning system that warns a pilot if an aircraft enters a dangerous microburst
Microburst
A microburst is a very localized column of sinking air, producing damaging divergent and straight-line winds at the surface that are similar to, but distinguishable from, tornadoes, which generally have convergent damage. There are two types of microbursts: wet microbursts and dry microbursts...
and provides escape guidance. He developed the latter in the late 1970s after a series of wind-shear-related crashes that claimed hundreds of lives.
Supersonic aircraft
In his 2001 book Inventorship: The Art of Innovation, Greene described finding "creative ideas in the simplest things."8 To address a key problem of supersonic aircraft – window-shattering sonic booms when they break the sound barrierSound barrier
The sound barrier, in aerodynamics, is the point at which an aircraft moves from transonic to supersonic speed. The term, which occasionally has other meanings, came into use during World War II, when a number of aircraft started to encounter the effects of compressibility, a collection of several...
– he turned to the earthworm
Earthworm
Earthworm is the common name for the largest members of Oligochaeta in the phylum Annelida. In classical systems they were placed in the order Opisthopora, on the basis of the male pores opening posterior to the female pores, even though the internal male segments are anterior to the female...
for inspiration. Just as an earthworm eats and excretes the earth to move past mounds of dirt, he figured a supersonic aircraft's deafening boom is caused from its inability to move air out of its way fast enough to avoid external shock waves
Shock Waves
Shock Waves, , is a 1977 horror movie written and directed by Ken Wiederhorn...
. He patented a device, sold to Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
in 1994, that would use a hollow fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
and strategically placed ducts to suck in, compress, and then release air through a plane's tail.
Outcome
Today, his firm supplies unique air safety and performance technology to virtually every major air carrier, the U.S. Armed Forces, and aircraft manufacturers worldwide. Safe Flight products are installed on over two-thirds of the world’s aircraft – in the general aviation, commercial, and military sectors.Safe Flight made Leonard Greene a multimillionaire. He remained involved in the business until his death and as recently as 1998 co-patented and marketed an airborne power line detector and warning system for helicopters.
Non-aviation interests
While running Safe Flight, Greene received dozens of patents for his varied interests; many of them went un-marketed. They included a three-dimensional chessChess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
game, a device to aid blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
painters by using musical notes to identify colors, and an instrument of revenge against telemarketers who interrupted dinner. When a pitchman called, the harassed resident could press a code that alerted the marketer that he would be liable for a surcharge for continuing the call.
Institute for Socioeconomic Studies
As a successful businessman, Greene implemented innovative employment policies, barring mandatory retirement age, actively recruiting the differently abled, and providing profit sharing at his own manufacturing facilitySeeking a broader forum and greater impact for his ideas, in 1974 he founded and financed the Institute for Socioeconomic Studies (ISES), a small policy research organization in White Plains, NY, that helped advance his ideas on welfare reform, health care, tax reform – and after Greene’s son was killed in the September 11 attacks in 2001 – foreign affairs.
According to Ostergren, who worked with Green at ISES, “He didn’t consider himself a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
or Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, conservative or liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
,”13 but searched for practical solutions to problems that intrigued him. He advocated a national tax rebate – $12,000 for any family of four, regardless of income, for instance – to alleviate poverty.
Greene criticized the Great Society
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States promoted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice...
anti-poverty programs of the 1960s as ineffective, a waste of taxpayer dollars, and a disincentive to work.
He has also made his mark as a social activis
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
t, having designed a plan to transform the federal social budget to provide greater income security, middle class tax relief, and market incentives for productivity growth.
In pursuit of these interests, Greene was a member of both the Special Committee on Welfare & Income Maintenance and the Council on Trends & Perspectives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He also served as a member in the Income Maintenance Committee of the Community Service Society and the Work Group on Welfare Reform of the Task Force on the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Fiscal Crisis.
Corporate Angel Network
In 1981, Greene, whose second wife died of cancer, helped start and finance Corporate Angel NetworkCorporate Angel Network
The Corporate Angel Network is an American non-profit charitable organization whose mission is to arrange free air travel for cancer patients to treatment centers by using the empty seats on corporate aircraft flying on routine business. They are based in White Plains, NY, and operate from an...
(CAN), a charitable organization
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
which arranges free transportation on corporate jets for cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
patients. This organization has 530 participating corporations who generously offer their empty seats to cancer patients. CAN flies more than 2,500 cancer patients a year. To date, the organization has flown more than 25,000 patients to treatment centers nationwide.
Greene flew the first Corporate Angel Network Flight on December 22, 1981, when he brought a 16-year old cancer patient home to Detroit who had just received treatment in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Sailing
An avid sailor, Greene became a technical adviser to several America's CupAmerica's Cup
The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...
races before buying two-time winner Courageous
Courageous (yacht)
Courageous is a 12-metre class yacht. It was the third boat to win the America's Cup twice, in 1974 and 1977, after Intrepid in 1967 and 1970, and Columbia in 1899 and 1901. All three of these boats won for the NYYC and thus the United States...
from Ted Turner
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
in the early 1980s. Sailing under the aegis of the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club
Yale Corinthian Yacht Club
Yale Corinthian Yacht Club is the home yacht club for the Yale University Coed and Women's Sailing Teams. It is located at 179 Clark Avenue in Branford, Connecticut...
, the only undergraduate sailing club ever to participate, the Courageous Syndicates 1986 run at the Cup spearheaded Greene's campaign to restore the Corinthian
Yale Corinthian Yacht Club
Yale Corinthian Yacht Club is the home yacht club for the Yale University Coed and Women's Sailing Teams. It is located at 179 Clark Avenue in Branford, Connecticut...
ideals of amateur sportsmanship to the competition, and more broadly, to team sports in general. Despite several of Greene's modifications to the keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
, the boat's age remained a problem, and his team withdrew during the 1986 competition. Following the 1997 donation of Courageous to the Museum of Yachting in Newport, RI, the famed 12-meter was named Rhode Island's State Yacht.
Awards and achievements
- Private Sector Initiative Commendation of the President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
(1982 and 1984)
- National Inventors Hall of FameNational Inventors Hall of FameThe National Inventors Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recognizing, honoring and encouraging invention and creativity through the administration of its programs. The Hall of Fame honors the men and women responsible for the great technological advances that make human,...
(1991)- SenatorUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
John H. Glenn Jr., a former astronautAstronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
, inducted Greene into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1991 and placed him among "American inventors who have changed our world in ways we can see every day of our lives."2
- Senator
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Contribution to American Innovation Award (2002)
- Special Act Award of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Flight Safety FoundationFlight Safety FoundationFlight Safety Foundation is an independent, nonprofit, international organization dedicated to research, education, advocacy and publishing in the field of air safety. FSF brings together aviation professionals from all the sectors to help solve safety problems facing the industry...
’s:- Air Safety Award (1949 and 1981)
- Award for Meritorious Service (1981)
- Allied Signal/Bendix Trophy Award for Aviation Safety (1999)
- National Business Aviation AssociationNational Business Aviation AssociationNational Business Aviation Association or NBAA, is a non-profit and nonpartisan 5016 corporation based in Washington, DC, United States. The Association represents more than 8,000 companies....
's:- Pilot Safety Award (1961)
- Award for Meritorious Service to Aviation (1996)
- Aviation Week & Space TechnologyAviation Week & Space TechnologyAviation Week & Space Technology, often abbreviated Aviation Week or AW&ST, is a weekly magazine owned and published by McGraw-Hill...
's:- Laurels Award in the Field of Electronics (1999)
- Laureate Award for Lifetime Achievement as a Pioneer in Flight Safety, Performance and Innovation (2001)
- Foundation for Westchester Community CollegeWestchester Community CollegeWestchester Community College is a public, two-year community college in Valhalla, New York, sponsored by Westchester County, New York, and the State University of New York . The college is one of 30 community colleges affiliated with SUNY....
's:- Medallion Award for Distinguished Achievement in Business, Science and Humanitarianism
- Life member of the Society of Experimental Test PilotsSociety of Experimental Test PilotsThe Society of Experimental Test Pilots is an international organization that seeks to promote air safety and contributes to aeronautical advancement by promoting sound aeronautical design and development; interchanging ideas, thoughts and suggestions of the members, assisting in the professional...
Key patents
- Greene, , "Air Stall Warning Device for Airplanes"
- Greene, , "Aircraft Auto Throttle System"
- Greene, , "Wind Shear Warning System"
- Greene, , "Supersonic Aircraft"