Robert Seamans

Robert Channing Seamans, Jr. ( born October 30, 1918 in Salem, Massachusetts, † 28 June 2008) was an American politician who both Deputy Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) and United States Secretary of the Air Force was.

Life

After visiting the school in Lenow he studied engineering at Harvard University and graduated in 1939 with a Bachelor of Science (BS Engineering ) from. A subsequent post-graduate studies of aeronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he finished 1942 with a Master of Science ( MS Aeronautics ).

Subsequently, he was primarily involved with missiles and aeronautics and was initially 1941-1955 Lecturer, Assistant Professor and Associate Professor in the Department of Aeronautical Engineering at MIT and Project Manager in the Laboratory for Automation Technology at MIT. During this time he acquired in 1951 also a Doctor of Science in Automation Technology at MIT. Most recently, he was chief engineer of the Project Meteor and then director of the Flight Control Laboratory.

In addition, Seamans was 1948-1959 employees of various technical committees of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics ( NACA ), the predecessor organization to NASA. In 1955, he joined the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), where he was not only head of the laboratory for aerospace systems, but also chief systems engineer of the department of aerospace systems. In 1958 he became chief engineer of the Department for missile electronics and control of RCA in Burlington. In addition to that, he was from 1957 to 1959, first advisor and then from 1959 to 1962 Member of the Scientific Council of the U.S. Force.

In 1960 he entered the service of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), where he was first Assistant Administrator (Associate Administrator) and as such responsible for research and development programs, field laboratories, assembly and launch ramp facilities as well as a worldwide network of tracking stations. In addition to that, he was 1962-1967 Assistant Adviser of the Science Council of the U.S. Air Force.

Of 21 December 1965 to January 5, 1968 Seamans was Deputy Administrator of NASA and also kept in this position many of his previous administrative tasks. He was also a 1966-1969 U.S. representative in the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development of NATO.

After leaving NASA, he was in March 1968 first visiting professor at MIT before he took over in July 1968, the Jerome Clarke Hunsaker professorship.

On February 15, 1969 he was appointed U.S. President Richard Nixon to Secretary of the Air Force. This office he held until May 1973.

He then worked from May 1973 to December 1974 President of the National Academy of Engineering ( NAE ), before he became administrator of the new Energy Research and Development Administration ( ERDA ). Shortly before its dissolution on 1 October 1977, he returned as professor back to MIT and was 1978-1981 Dean of the Engineering Faculty there (MIT School of Engineering ). After that, he was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Aerospace Corporation.

Honors and Awards

Robert Seamans was also involved in numerous organizations such as the Scientific Association Sigma Xi, the American Association for the Advancement of Science ( AAAS), American Astronautical Society ( AAS), the American Society for Public Administration ( ASPA ), American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Space Club, Foreign Policy Association, National Academy of Engineering (NAE ), International Academy of Astronautics (IAA ) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics ( AIAA ). He was a member of the board of Harvard University.

For his scientific and political achievements, he has received several awards and received, among other things, the prices Naval Ordnance Development Award (1945 ), Lawrence Sperry Award from the AIAA (1951 ), Godfrey L. Cabot Aviation Award from the Royal Aero Club (1965 ), Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy (1968 ) and twice the NASA Distinguished Service Medal (1965 and 1969). After 1969 Honorary Fellow of the AIAA, a Fellow of the AAS and a Trustee of the National Geographic Society he was in July, he was also in January 1970 Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ( IEEE) in recognition " for his achievements in the application of electronics in the management and control problems and for the steering of space programs. "

He has also received honorary doctorates of Rollins College, New York University, and Norwich University.

Publications

• Project Apollo. The Tough Decisions, Monographs in Aerospace History No. 37, 2005