He then entered the City College of New York, from which he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering in 1944.

[2] The following year, he was awarded a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering by the Case Institute of Technology.

[3][5] He became the head of the Axial Flow Compression Group at Lewis in 1952, and then Associate Chief of the Compressor Research Branch in 1954.

[2] Abe Silverstein, the director of Lewis, believed that nuclear propulsion would be important in the future.

[8] Responsibility for the nuclear thermal rocket project, Project Rover, was officially transferred from the United States Air Force (USAF) to NASA on October 1, 1958,[9] the day NASA officially became operational and assumed responsibility for the US civilian space program.

[10] On August 29, 1960, NASA created the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office (SNPO) to oversee Project Rover.

[11] Finger was appointed as its manager, with Milton Klein from the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) as his deputy.

[12] Finger was also the director of nuclear systems in the NASA Office of Advanced Research and Technology.

[5] Finger left NASA in March 1969, when he was appointed the first assistant secretary for research and technology in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.