Who is credited with inventing the air-cushioning technology used in Nike Air shoes?

M. Frank Rudy is credited with inventing the air-cushioning technology used in Nike Air shoes.

Rudy was a former aerospace engineer who developed the idea of placing pressurized gas inside a shoe’s sole. He approached Nike with the concept in the 1970s, helping the company develop footwear with encapsulated air for cushioning.

The technology first appeared commercially in the Nike Air Tailwind in 1979. The pressurized air was contained in a flexible unit designed to absorb impact without simply adding conventional foam.

Rudy is sometimes confused with Nike designers such as Tinker Hatfield, who later used visible Air units in iconic shoe designs. Hatfield helped popularize the technology’s appearance, while Rudy originated the underlying air-cushioning concept.