International Motor Racing Research Center honoring Bill Milliken at 99th Birthday Party April 17
WATKINS GLEN, NY – The International Motor Racing Research Center is honoring one of its greatest friends with a birthday party – his 99th birthday party.
William F. Milliken, a founding member of road racing in Watkins Glen and a pioneer in automotive and aeronautical engineering, will be the man of the hour at the festivities on Saturday, April 17.
All are invited to the event that will begin with a reception at 1 p.m. A program featuring accolades from some of Milliken’s friends and fans will begin at 3 p.m. The Racing Research Center is located at 610 S. Decatur St., Watkins Glen.
“We are so honored that Bill will be celebrating his 99th birthday with us. He has been a great friend of Watkins Glen and now the Center since the earliest days of racing here. This party is an opportunity for the local community and his friends from everywhere to thank him for all that he has done for us,” said J.C. Argetsinger, president of the Racing Research Center.
Milliken was born on April 18, 1911, in Old Town, Maine, and today lives in the Buffalo, NY, area.
He was one of the earliest members of the Sports Car Club of America and competed in more than 100 post-World War II races. In Watkins Glen, he served as head of the Rules Committee, including for the first race on Oct. 2, 1948.
It was in that first race through the streets that Milliken sealed his fame in Watkins Glen, rolling his Type 35A Bugatti in a section of the original circuit known today as “Milliken’s Corner.” He crawled out from under the wreckage, uninjured, to the cheers of the gathered crowd.
In his racing career he drove a variety of cars, including Bugattis and the Four Wheel Drive Miller, at Pike’s Peak, Sebring and other tracks for 15 years. He served a term as chief steward for the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix races at Watkins Glen.
With Cameron R. Argetsinger, founder of racing in Watkins Glen, Milliken was in the first group inducted into the SCCA Hall of Fame in 2005. He served as vice president and as a member of the SCCA Contest Board and was elected to the first SCCA Board of Directors. He also wrote the first set of SCCA General Competition Rules.
A 1934 graduate of MIT, Milliken worked in the aircraft industry for 20 years in analysis, wind tunnel and flight testing. From 1944, he was managing director at Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, retiring as the head of the Transportation Research Division, which he founded.
Milliken Research Associates was created in 1976 as a foundational research asset to the automotive and auto racing industries. He remains active in MRA, which is now run by his son, Douglas L. Milliken.
Milliken's automotive innovations have earned him the highest engineering honors, and his technical books are required reading for automotive engineers and students.
“Equations of Motion - Adventure, Risk and Innovation,” is Milliken’s autobiography, published in 2006.
For more information about the celebration of Milliken’s accomplishments, contact the International Motor Racing Research Center at (607) 535-9044. The Center’s website is at www.racingarchives.org.
For more information: Mark Steigerwald, Center director of Archives and Administration, (607) 535-9044 or by email at mark@racingarchives.org
William F. Milliken takes a moment in 1949 to pose next to the sign erected in “Milliken’s Corner” in downtown Watkins Glen, where he rolled his Type 35A Bugatti in the first race the year before.
It looks like a miniature 'Flat Iron', and the roof is wonderful! I do like quirky buildings...
