Mihai Corneliu Drăgănescu (October 6, 1929 – May 28, 2010) was a Romanian engineer who served as President of the Romanian Academy from 1990 to 1994.
Born in Făget, Prahova County,[1] he received a B.Sc. in 1952 and a Ph.D. in 1957 from Politehnica University of Bucharest. He married in 1957.[2] He joined the faculty of Politehnica University in 1951, becoming a professor in 1965.[3] In 1974, he became a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy, rising to titular member in January 1990, following the Romanian Revolution. Later that year, he became the academy's president, serving until 1994[4] and initiating its transition into the post-communist environment.[5] In the first cabinet of Petre Roman, in 1989–1990, he was a deputy prime minister.[6] He co-authored several publications with Menas Kafatos, including the book Principles of Integrative Science (Editura Tehnică, 2003).[7]
In 1971, he was made a commander of the Legion of Honour, attaining the same rank in the Order of the Star of Romania in 2000.[8] He was buried at Bellu Cemetery.[9]
The Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence of the Romanian Academy, set up in 1994, is named after him.[10]