Natalie Crawford, an engineer who helped U.S. Air Force leaders modernize the service for more than 60 years, has died. She was 86 years old.
Crawford studied mathematics at UCLA, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1961, when only 5–7% of women attended four-year colleges and only 15% of those women majored in male-dominated fields such as mathematics. She joined the RAND Corporation in 1964 where she spent the balance of her career before retiring earlier this year.
Crawford led major research projects at RAND, including studies on shaping the role of air power for the 21st century. She also was involved in research on integrating cyber operations into the Air Force and future roles for uncrewed air systems.
She held management positions with RAND Project AIR FORCE for more than two decades, including serving as its director (1997–2006). Crawford joined the division in 1986 and has been the only woman to lead it.
Following the directorship, she became a RAND senior fellow and distinguished chair in Air and Space Policy, and she taught at the RAND School of Public Policy. Upon retirement, she became an adjunct senior fellow.
Her areas of expertise spanned tactical aircraft, aircraft survivability, munitions and targets, electronic combat, theater air defense, and space systems. Other major studies she led included a 1981 review of the characteristics of next-generation tactical fighters and an assessment of the first Gulf War air campaign.
Crawford was recognized for her contributions and achievements with numerous awards throughout her impressive career, including the Medal for Exceptional Public Service (2006) from the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Air Force Association (2011). She also received the Thomas D. White National Defense Award (2013) from the United States Air Force Academy.
In 2014, she was selected to be RAND’s first chair in Air and Space Policy, a position that provides a RAND researcher with greater resources and flexibility to serve as a mentor to the staff as well as connect with senior leaders in the Air Force, NASA, and the aerospace industry.
She was a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and served as vice chair (1990) and cochair (1996–1999). She sat on the Sandia Nuclear Weapons External Advisory Board and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Advisory Council.
Connections with AIAA
Crawford was elected as an AIAA Fellow in 2011. She was elected as Honorary Fellow in 2017 for her professional devotion to the U.S. Air Force through unwavering commitment to optimally integrate technology, the warfighter, and operations through critical thinking, candor, objectivity, independence, and thoroughness.
She was a dedicated AIAA volunteer, serving on the Fellows and Honorary Fellows Selection Boards, Honors and Awards Committee, and Yvonne C. Brill Lectureship in Aerospace Engineering Selection Committee.
AIAA President Dan Hastings remembered Crawford and their interactions through the years. “Natalie was passionate about the U.S. Air Force. She cared deeply that the Air Force got things right. I was honored to follow her leadership as cochair of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. She was wise and I was the beneficiary of her wisdom on a number of occasions.”
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