Theodore Theodorsen - Emigration

Emigration

In 1922 Theodorsen graduated with a masters degree in mechanical engineering and was offered a position at the university as an instructor. It was during that year that one of his students was Lars Onsager who became a lifelong friend. Onsager also emigrated to the United States and eventually went on to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Theodorsen, like many Norwegian engineers, decided after some years as an instructor in Norway to emigrate. Jobs for engineers were few and far between in Norway at the time. His wife's family knew a retired Norwegian sea captain who lived in Baltimore, so that became their American destination. They arrived in the United States on board the SS Stavangerfjord on August 25, 1924.