David W. Taylor

Rear Admiral David Watson Taylor, USN was a naval architect and engineer of the United States Navy. He served during World War I as Chief Constructor of the Navy, and Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair. Taylor is best known as the man who constructed the first experimental towing tank ever built in the United States.

Taylor was born in Louisa County, Va. He entered the United States Naval Academy in 1881, after graduating from RandolphMacon College where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi. He graduated from the Academy in 1885 at the head of his class, setting a scholarship record, which still stands today. He was then sent to Greenwich, England in 1885 and received the highest honors of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, in 1888, again setting a record.

Source: Wikipedia