Karsten Solheim

Born in Bergen, Norway, to Herman A. and Ragna Koppen Solheim, the family emigrated to the United States in 1913, and settled in Seattle, Washington, in its Ballard neighborhood. Herman was a shoemaker, and Karsten graduated from Ballard High School in 1931 and enrolled two years later at the University of Washington, with aims at becoming a mechanical engineer. Due to family financial hardship during the Great Depression, he withdrew from UW after his freshman year and then worked in the family shoe shop.

Upon the outbreak of World War II, he resumed his engineering studies via University of California Extension courses and joined the defense industry, working at Ryan Aeronautical in San Diego. After the war he initially worked as a salesman, but then returned to engineering with positions at Convair and General Electric.