George Dan Ianculescu

He worked as an engineer in the chemical industry in Romania for 15 years. In the spring of 1971, he came for the first time to the United States as a technical visitor for 6 months and decided to remain in America because he had far more opportunities to pursue his desired career here. As a graduate student at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, he soon met Daniela, also from Romania, and within a year they were married. He continued his graduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University, where he obtained two master's degrees in Control Systems and Computer Science, followed by a doctorate (PhD). After completing his studies, he continued his technical career, first for two years at E.I. du Pont de Nemours in Delaware, and then in California, where he settled in the spring of 1980. At the first taste of California, George and Daniela immediately decided never to return to colder climes. Their daughter and only child Alexandra was born in November that year.

Instead of automated systems in the chemical industry, George dedicated the rest of his career to space systems, first at Litton, and then in 1981 he joined NASA's efforts for space exploration, working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and then at Rockwell International, and continuing with Boeing. He was naturalized as an American citizen in June, 1983. Once in California, he was able to devote some of his time to teaching, which he followed for 20 years in parallel with his technical work for NASA. He taught courses in automatic control systems, electronics and computer science at California Polytechnic University Pomona, UCLA, and USC. In the engineering field, he participated in and led the automatic control systems projects for the Galileo mission, then the Space Shuttle and the Space Station. In the latter part of his career, he was very dedicated to the Constellation project, which aimed to return to the Moon, followed by further space exploration. Enthusiastically working on these projects for many years, Dr. George Ianculescu ultimately retired in 2010 at the age of 78. He was an active member of the Holy Trinity Romanian Orthodox Church in Los Angeles for 40 years.

Aside from his accomplished career, George and Daniela were always extremely passionate about travel, and soon after Alexandra was born in 1980, she accompanied them everywhere, from Arizona and Utah to Switzerland and New Zealand, and everything in between. Some of their very fondest memories were from these unforgettable vacations as a family.

He is survived by Daniela, his wife of 53 years, and his daughter Alexandra. He is greatly missed and will never be forgotten.