Dr. Isaiah Miguel Blankson was born on September 28, 1944 in Cape Coast, Ghana.  As a youth, he enjoyed playing sports, such as soccer and cricket, but most of all, he was passionate about learning.  For secondary school, he attended the prestigious Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast and earned a scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received his B.S. degree in 1969, M.S. degree in 1970, and Ph.D. degree in 1973, each in Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering.

In 1982, Isaiah joined General Electric Corporate Research Center in Schenectady, New York, where he conducted research on hypervelocity plasma-armature projectile launchers, and gas-dynamic circuit breakers.  He went on to join the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1988, where he spent his career in global service.  He began his career at NASA as a program director for the Generic Hypersonics program and was subsequently named deputy director of the Hypersonics Research Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. in 1991.  In 1997, he was promoted to senior technologist in the Hypersonics division at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Isaiah’s pioneering work advanced state-of-the-art air breathing hypersonic wave riders and aircraft-engine concepts.  His areas of focus included air-breathing hypersonic aerodynamics and propulsion, plasmas and electromagnetic interactions in gas dynamics, magnetic levitation systems, and advanced millimeter-wave imaging technologies for aviation safety and homeland security.  Nicknamed the “speed demon,” Isaiah initiated a flight program that led to NASA’s X-43 Hypersonic Scramjet-Engine successful flights at Mach 7 and 10.  His work in high-speed air breathing propulsion resulted in several patents, including an Exoskeletal Gas-Turbine Engine and a Magneto-Hydrodynamic Power (MHD) Controlled Gas Turbine. In addition, Dr. Blankson co-developed a Method for Weakening Shockwave Strength on Vehicles in Supersonic Atmospheric Flight and a water purification technique using electrically charged plasma. As part of NASA’s Fundamental Aeronautics Program, he formulated and instituted a research program in plasma and MHD interactions in aerodynamics and propulsion. During his career, Isaiah worked tirelessly to prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers, especially underrepresented minorities, by aiding the building of research programs. Under the NASA Universities Center of Excellence Program in Hypersonics, he championed the formation of research programs for North Carolina A&T State University, Hampton University, the University of Maryland, University of Texas at Arlington, Syracuse University, and other colleges and universities.

Isaiah has received numerous awards and honors, including the 1969 Luis de Florez Award for excellence in engineering from MIT, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 2002, National Emerald Honors Scientist of the Year Award in 2006, two Presidential Rank Awards: the 2006 Meritorious Senior Professional Award and 2014 Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Senior Professional, the highest civil servant award granted annually by the United States Government.  In 2019, he was selected as an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Fellow.

For all of Isaiah’s many professional accomplishments, his personal accomplishments far outweighed them.  Being a kind and dependable husband and father was of the utmost importance to Isaiah, and he certainly did not disappoint when it came to wholeheartedly loving his family. Everything God created Isaiah Miguel Blankson to be and accomplish, he gave it his all. Isaiah was a devoted husband, father, brother, advisor, provider, protector, mentor, teacher, man of faith, and an excellent chef.  He was a proud member of the Tau Boule of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. He enjoyed building computers for young people, practicing conversational Russian, watching old western movies, tinkering with his ham radio, and cracking jokes and laughing at them. Isaiah is survived by his loving wife, Marsha; children: Inana and Torik; grandson: Iziah; and siblings: Calvert Blankson and Alice Stella Baffoe Blankson. He was preceded in passing by his parents: Emmanuel Jeurry Blankson and Rebecca Obu Blankson; siblings: William Acquah Blankson, Geoge Kofi Blankson, Emmanuel Jeurry Blankson, and Elizabeth Noel Blankson.