In 1981, Dad was awarded the Taylor Medal “for notable achievement in marine engineering” by the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Here is the citation printed in the program, which gives a summary of his career.
Erwin C. Rohde was Manager of the Technical Resources Operation of the Industrial and Marine Steam Turbine Division of the General Electric Company.
His career spans almost 40 years of dedicated leadership with outstanding contributions to the advancement of steam turbine design for application to marine propulsion. As a team leader, unit manager and section manager, he has been intimately involved in the development of main and auxiliary steam plants for ships of every class and description: aircraft carriers, guided missile destroyers, and nuclear powered cruisers as well as attack and ballistic missile submarines. In addition, there have been very large tankers, container ships, the Mariner cargo ships, passenger vessels, a Great Lakes ore carrier, a cable ship, and an ice breaker. Whether the designs were for plants of many or one-of-a-kind, most contained a great degree of novelty and challenge. Not only were some plants the most powerful ever installed on ships, but some were required to incorporate entirely new concepts such as for contra-rotating propellers or stringent demands for quietness, efficiency, and automation.
Mr. Rohde has also pioneered in fostering increased representation of women and minorities in the engineering profession and has contributed generously of his knowledge with professional papers, three before our Society.
Afterward, Mom sent me the program and a note recalling the event. It took place at the NY Hilton and the list of guests and their table assignments spanned may pages in the program. The featured speaker was the Secretary of the Navy and there were 3 head tables with Dad seated at the middle one. The menu was elegant. Quite an affair! Mom said, “It was really a very enjoyable weekend, including the buffet lunch in Erwin’s honor given by GE at the NY Yacht Club with beautiful models of all the America’s Cup contenders and of course the America’s Cup itself. So many good friends (of Erwin’s) from all over including the west coast, and a few from Europe.”