Age, Biography and Wiki

Woodie Flowers (Woodie Claude Flowers) was born on 18 November, 1943 in Jena, Louisiana, U.S., is an American engineering academic. Discover Woodie Flowers's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 75 years old?

Popular As Woodie Claude Flowers
Occupation miscellaneous
Age 75 years old
Zodiac Sign Scorpio
Born 18 November 1943
Birthday 18 November
Birthplace Jena, Louisiana, U.S.
Date of death 11 October, 2019
Died Place Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Nationality United States

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 18 November. He is a member of famous Miscellaneous with the age 75 years old group.

Woodie Flowers Height, Weight & Measurements

At 75 years old, Woodie Flowers height not available right now. We will update Woodie Flowers's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

Physical Status
Height Not Available
Weight Not Available
Body Measurements Not Available
Eye Color Not Available
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Who Is Woodie Flowers's Wife?

His wife is Margaret Weas Flowers (m. 1967–2019)

Family
Parents Not Available
Wife Margaret Weas Flowers (m. 1967–2019)
Sibling Not Available
Children Not Available

Woodie Flowers Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Woodie Flowers worth at the age of 75 years old? Woodie Flowers’s income source is mostly from being a successful Miscellaneous. He is from United States. We have estimated Woodie Flowers's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income Miscellaneous

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Timeline

1943

Woodie Claude Flowers (November 18, 1943 – October 11, 2019) was a professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

His specialty areas were engineering design and product development; he held the Pappalardo Professorship and was a MacVicar Faculty Fellow.

Flowers was known for co-creating FIRST, a youth organization known primarily for operating FIRST Robotics Competition and other student engineering competitions.

Working with inventor Dean Kamen, Flowers helped design the organization's competition structure based loosely around his 2.70 class at MIT.

Flowers was born in Jena, Louisiana on November 18, 1943, and named after his grandfathers Woodie and Claude.

His father, Abe Flowers, was a welder and inventor; his mother, Bertie Graham, was an elementary-school and special education teacher.

Flowers had a sister, Kay.

As a boy, he showed mechanical aptitude like his father, Abe, and he earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

When he was seventeen, he and four friends were driving on Louisiana Highway 127 when they were hit head-on by another vehicle that was traveling at about 100 mph. The collision killed two people in Flowers' vehicle and one in the other.

The event ingrained his self-described "genetic opposition to violence" and his "fierce, vocal loathing of any spectacle that involves crashing pieces of machinery into each other with deliberate force."

1966

Flowers initially expected not to attend college, but at the advice of a high school teacher he attended Louisiana Polytechnic Institute under a disability scholarship, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1966.

1967

Flowers married Margaret Weas, who he met at Louisiana Tech University, in 1967.

Flowers was known for having an eclectic selection of hobbies, including wildlife photography, Scuba diving, unicycling, skydiving, and trapeze.

1968

He then attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), earning his M.S. (1968), M.E. (1971), and PhD (1973) under the direction of Bob Mann.

His thesis, titled "A man-interactive simulator system for above-knee prosthetics studies," was on a robot-like prosthetic knee inspired by Mann's Boston Arm.

After receiving his doctorate, Flowers began as an assistant professor at MIT, working with Herb Richardson on the "Introduction to Design and Manufacturing" class.

Known by its course number as 2.70 (now 2.007), the class featured a design competition to build robotic mechanisms to accomplish a given challenge.

1974

Flowers took over the class in 1974, developing it into one of the most popular classes at MIT.

He redesigned the challenge every year, always trying to make it more complex and exciting for students.

The competition was televised several years on the PBS show Discover: the World of Science.

The competition became akin to a sporting event, and was even jokingly referred to as MIT's true homecoming game.

1987

In 1987, Flowers handed the class over to Harry West.

1990

Discover: the World of Science changed its name to Scientific American Frontiers in 1990, and Flowers served as its host until 1993 when he was replaced by Alan Alda.

In 1990, Flowers began working with Dean Kamen on FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a project to inspire a culture that celebrates science and technology.

1992

Taking elements from 2.70, they created the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) in 1992, which evolved into an international competition involving 3,647 teams and serving more than 91,000 students as of 2020.

Flowers introduced the phrase "gracious professionalism" to FIRST, an idea which has since pervaded FIRST literature and culture.

Flowers served every year as National Advisor to FIRST.

He was active at FIRST events, working as an MC and being treated along with Kamen "like heroes."

1996

In 1996, the FIRST Robotics Competition created the Woodie Flowers award, which was awarded to Flowers that year.

In years since, the award has served as a way for FRC teams to recognize distinguished adult mentors.

At each FRC regional competition a Woodie Flowers Finalist Award (W.F.F.A) is presented to one nominee, qualifying them for the Championship Woodie Flowers Award (WFA) presented at the FIRST Championship.

Flowers was a "Distinguished Partner" at Olin College, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

2007

In 2007, he received a degree honoris causa from Chilean university Universidad Nacional Andrés Bello.

2017

At the 2017 VEX Robotics World Championship, Woodie Flowers was inducted into the STEM Hall of Fame.

2019

Flowers died on October 11, 2019, at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston following complications from aorta surgery.