Hans Reissner

Hans Jacob Reissner, also known as Jacob Johannes Reissner, (18 January 1874 – 2 October 1967) was a German aeronautical engineer whose avocation was mathematical physics. During World War I he was awarded the Iron Cross second class (for civilians) for his pioneering work on aircraft design.

Background
During the Third Reich he was able to work in the aircraft industry although he did not have an Arierzeugnis. In 1938 he emigrated from the country to which he had contributed so much. He taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology (1938–44) and the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (1944–54).

Curiously, it was this engineer, rather than a physicist or mathematician, who first solved Einstein's equation for the metric of a charged point mass. His Reissner–Nordström metric demonstrated that an electron has a naked singularity rather that an event horizon.

Eric Reissner (Max Erich Reissner, 1913–1996), his son, developed Mindlin–Reissner plate theory.