Guyford Stever
Encyclopedia
Horton Guyford Stever was an American administrator
, physicist, educator, and engineer.
, principally by his maternal grandmother. He played football in high school. He graduated from Colgate University
with an undergraduate degree in physics
and then from California Institute of Technology
in 1941 with a Ph.D.
in physics. He joined the staff of the radiation lab at MIT. In 1942 he began serving the military as a civilian scientific liaison officer based in London, England until the end of World War II
. After D-Day
he was sent to France
several times to study German
technology.
He returned to MIT after the war, serving as associate dean of engineering there from 1956–1959 and then as a department head. In 1965 he became the fifth President
of Carnegie Mellon University
(and the first under that name, in 1967), a position he held until 1972. Stever House, a dorm on Carnegie Mellon's campus is named for him.
He also served as the director of the National Science Foundation
from 1972 until 1976. Between 1973 and 1977 he was President Gerald Ford
's Science Advisor.
He also served on the board of trustees of Science Service, now known as Society for Science & the Public
, from 1982-2006.
Stever received an LL.D. from Bates College
in 1977. In 1997, he received the Vannevar Bush Award from the National Science Board.
's Special Committee on Space Technology, also called the "Stever Committee," was among the better-known of these. It was a special steering committee that was formed with the mandate to coordinate various branches of the Federal government, private companies as well as universities within the United States with NACA's objectives and also harness their expertise in order to develop a space program.
Remarkably, Hendrik Wade Bode
, the man who helped develop the robot weapons that brought down the Nazi
V-1 flying bomb
s over London
during WWII
, was actually serving on the same committee and sitting at the same table as the chief engineer of the V-2, the other weapon that terrorised London: Wernher von Braun.
As of their meeting on May 26, 1958, committee members, starting clockwise from the left of the adjacent picture, included:
. The committee released a report titled, Human Exploration of Space: A Review of NASA's 90-Day Study and Alternatives.
Administrator of the Government
An Administrator in the constitutional practice of some countries in the Commonwealth is a person who fulfils a role similar to that of a Governor or a Governor-General...
, physicist, educator, and engineer.
Biography
Stever was raised in Corning, New YorkCorning (city), New York
Corning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,842 at the 2000 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company that developed the community.- Overview :The city of...
, principally by his maternal grandmother. He played football in high school. He graduated from Colgate University
Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...
with an undergraduate degree in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and then from California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
in 1941 with a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in physics. He joined the staff of the radiation lab at MIT. In 1942 he began serving the military as a civilian scientific liaison officer based in London, England until the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
he was sent to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
several times to study German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
technology.
He returned to MIT after the war, serving as associate dean of engineering there from 1956–1959 and then as a department head. In 1965 he became the fifth President
Academic administration
An academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities...
of Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
(and the first under that name, in 1967), a position he held until 1972. Stever House, a dorm on Carnegie Mellon's campus is named for him.
He also served as the director of the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
from 1972 until 1976. Between 1973 and 1977 he was President Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
's Science Advisor.
He also served on the board of trustees of Science Service, now known as Society for Science & the Public
Society for Science & the Public
Society for Science & the Public , formerly known as Science Service, is a 5013 non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of science, through its science education programs and publications, including the weekly Science News magazine.Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the organization...
, from 1982-2006.
Stever received an LL.D. from Bates College
Bates College
Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...
in 1977. In 1997, he received the Vannevar Bush Award from the National Science Board.
NACA Special Committee on Space Technology
Guyford Stever was chairman or member of numerous advisory committees to the U.S. government. The NACANational Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was a U.S. federal agency founded on March 3, 1915 to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958 the agency was dissolved, and its assets and personnel transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and...
's Special Committee on Space Technology, also called the "Stever Committee," was among the better-known of these. It was a special steering committee that was formed with the mandate to coordinate various branches of the Federal government, private companies as well as universities within the United States with NACA's objectives and also harness their expertise in order to develop a space program.
Hendrik Wade Bode
Hendrik Wade Bode , was an American engineer, researcher, inventor, author and scientist], of Dutch ancestry. As a pioneer of modern control theory and electronic telecommunications he revolutionized both the content and methodology of his chosen fields of research.He made important contributions...
, the man who helped develop the robot weapons that brought down the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
V-1 flying bomb
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb, also known as the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile....
s over London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
during WWII
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, was actually serving on the same committee and sitting at the same table as the chief engineer of the V-2, the other weapon that terrorised London: Wernher von Braun.
As of their meeting on May 26, 1958, committee members, starting clockwise from the left of the adjacent picture, included:
| Committee member | Title |
|---|---|
| Edward R. Sharp | Director of the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory Glenn Research Center NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field is a NASA center, located within the cities of Brook Park, Cleveland and Fairview Park, Ohio between Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and the Cleveland Metroparks's Rocky River Reservation, and has other subsidiary facilities in Ohio... |
| Colonel Norman C Appold | Assistant to the Deputy Commander for Weapons Systems, Air Research and Development Command: US Air Force |
| Abraham Hyatt | Research and Analysis Officer Bureau of Aeronautics, Department of the Navy |
| Hendrik Wade Bode Hendrik Wade Bode Hendrik Wade Bode , was an American engineer, researcher, inventor, author and scientist], of Dutch ancestry. As a pioneer of modern control theory and electronic telecommunications he revolutionized both the content and methodology of his chosen fields of research.He made important contributions... |
Director of Research Physical Sciences, Bell Telephone Laboratories |
| W Randolph Lovelace II | Lovelace Foundation for Medication Education and Research |
| S. K Hoffman | General Manager, Rocketdyne Division, North American Aviation North American Aviation North American Aviation was a major US aerospace manufacturer, responsible for a number of historic aircraft, including the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F-86 Sabre jet fighter, the X-15 rocket plane, and the XB-70, as well as Apollo Command and Service... |
| Milton U Clauser | Director, Aeronautical Research Laboratory, The Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation |
| H. Julian Allen | Chief, High Speed Flight Research, NACA Ames |
| Robert R. Gilruth | Assistant Director, NACA Langley |
| J. R. Dempsey | Manager. Convair-Astronautics Convair Convair was an American aircraft manufacturing company which later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Vultee Aircraft and Consolidated Aircraft, and went on to produce a number of pioneering aircraft, such as the Convair B-36 bomber, and the F-102... (Division of General Dynamics General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has... ) |
| Carl B. Palmer | Secretary to Committee, NACA Headquarters |
| H. Guyford Stever | Chairman, Associate Dean of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in... |
| Hugh L. Dryden Hugh Latimer Dryden Hugh Latimer Dryden was an aeronautical scientist and civil servant. He served as NASA Deputy Administrator from August 19, 1958 until his death.-Biography:... |
(ex officio), Director, NACA |
| Dale R. Corson Dale R. Corson Dale R. Corson was the eighth president of Cornell University. Born in Pittsburg, Kansas, in 1914, Corson received a B.A. degree from the College of Emporia in 1934, his M.A. degree from the University of Kansas in 1935, and his Ph.D... |
Department of Physics, Cornell University Cornell University Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions... |
| Abe Silverstein Abe Silverstein Abraham "Abe" Silverstein was an American engineer who played an important part in the United States space program. He was a longtime manager at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics... |
Associate Director, NACA Lewis |
| Wernher von Braun Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun was a German rocket scientist, aerospace engineer, space architect, and one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany during World War II and in the United States after that.A former member of the Nazi party,... |
Director, Development Operations Division, Army Ballistic Missile Agency Army Ballistic Missile Agency The Army Ballistic Missile Agency was the agency formed to develop the US Army's first intermediate range ballistic missile. It was established at Redstone Arsenal on February 1, 1956 and commanded by Major General John B... |
NRC Committee on Human Exploration of Space
In 1990 Stever chaired a Committee on Human Exploration of Space for the National Research CouncilUnited States National Research Council
The National Research Council of the USA is the working arm of the United States National Academies, carrying out most of the studies done in their names.The National Academies include:* National Academy of Sciences...
. The committee released a report titled, Human Exploration of Space: A Review of NASA's 90-Day Study and Alternatives.