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DEPAM~N~J0F ~~~ 

~OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORM.AT. 

• WASHING':!; ON 25, D .. C. NO .. 1130-51 

AUGUST 23 > 1951 LI 5-6700 EXT.53201~ I 

53176 

POLICY GROUP TO UTILIZF. SCIF:NTIFIC TALENTS 

ESTABLISHED BY RESP.ARCH AND DBVELOPMENT BOARD 

Establishment of a policy group within the Resea.i1 ch and DGvo;t.opm..snt B01..n•d of tho Departmsnt 01" Def't:Jnso. W&e announced tod8..y by 

Wo.ltc.r c. Wnitman, tho now cmirm,..::i,n of the board. 

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fi1.1s f~roup 1llll wo1"'k closely with Chairman Whitman in formulating 

.J.nd cxoc11ting policy, tvith spocia.1 emph::t.sis on utilizing the talents 

of tho mony scientists and e:i.gineers from industry and the universities 

who sto.nd roc.dy to assist the Boo.rd ln :tts work. 

Tho intorno.l policy group will include Dr. J3mes A. Perkins as 

Deputy Chai·rman, Dr'. Roberb c. Gunnoss n.nd Edwin A. Speakmn.n as Vico 

Chairmen, Dr. S, Douglas Cornell as- Dj_r0ctor of PlannineJ and the three 

full-timo military sccreta.rios of the Boo.rd, Major Genernl Jo.mes F. 

Phillips of tho Air Force, Brig- Genc:ral Hobc;;t>t W, Crichlow of the 

Army, ['.nd· Ca1)tain Steadman Tellc.1" of the Navy. 

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Dr. J<o..r·1os A• Perkins, the 11ow Deputy Chairman, received his B.A. 

deg1°00 i'11 or:1 S\rn.rthmorc C allege in 1934, He cl id his grndu.'.1 to work at 

Princeton Univcrsit-y WhE..,ro ha recoivcd his Ph.D. in 1937. 

From 19.:'.·7 to 19~1 Dr. Perl,:ins was Assisto.nt Professor of Public 

Affe.. "Lrs and As sistn.nt Director, School of Public and Irrcc1~na tional 

f\..ffalrs, CJ..C Prlncoton Univ8rnity, In 1941 ho joinod thG Office of 

Price Administration in Wo..shington, D,C, as D:i..rcctor of the Paper 

Division, In 191J.3 he be'came A.ssistnnt to tho Administru.to1° of thGForcign Economic J,_dministration. In 19 ~5 ho lv.ft tht3 Govcrmnont to 

tako tho posit.Lon oi' Vioe P1"osidcnt of Swarthmore College, a position 

he helcl unt11 19.50 when hu bGcnme Exocutivu Associo,t.o of the CG.rnegie 

Co l'P orn t ion oi' Hew Y 01·k. 

D:i. ~ P.:,rkins is acqun.intEJd with the Hesearch and Dev8lop1aont Board) 

liaving sel'Vocl ns a consultant to the Ch:J.irm['..n, o.nd is now on leave 

from the Ournogie Corpor~tion for his present assignment to the Board. 

He and hls wife, Mrs. Jrn.\n Perkins, with their thr·oe childron, Barbara., 

10; Joan,, 8; a11d John, 6, make their hor:10 in P1~inceton, Hew Jorsey, 

Dr. Hobort Ct Gun11oss, who bccom0s a Vlce C):lo,irrnan, l'occlved his 

B.S. degre~ in Chemistry in 1932 at ~hssachusetts State College. Ho 

und".:rtool: gro.dua.to study :ln Chemical Engineering ut Massachusetts 

Institute of 1.i:ochnology, rcceivinG the M.S. degree in 1934 and the 

D~Sc. in 1936. -. MOHE 

@'pproved for Release by NSA on 04-14-2014 pursuantto E.O. 1352a 
Subsequently, D- q~u,nn~?'S s~riyeo.'. a yca"r. as 9=itructor o:r chemical 

enginee:riue; at M.I.T. and,th~:n.. was appo,~ni{ed assistant p:rofosso1" and 

a director in its School of Chemical Ene:;inee:ring PrRctice at the plant~ 

of the Monsanto Chemical Coi,,npo.ny in Everett, .Masso.chuse.tts, and of the , 

Hercules Powden• Company at Parlii1, New Jersey. In 1938,, Dr; Gunness \ 

joined. the Re::rnarch Department of the Stundard Oil Compo.ny of' Indiana, 

engagine; initinllj in p~oce~~ dy~ign and pilot. plant development of 

petroleum and petro.-chemiqal processes·,· , Sinco 1947, he has been 

ma.n..'1ger of the company's research.ac'tivities·. 

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Dr, Gunness :ts a counp\i,,llo;r ot the Ame:i;>ioan Institute of Chemical 

Engineers and a. member of tho American Cl.1.eoica:1 Society and of the 

Society of AutomotivG Engineers. Ho 'brings to the nesoa:rch ·and 

Development Boai"d n broad expcrienc0 and talent in tne field of chem:ical 

enginec:rine; [1.nd in tl;l.e manaeoment of inftustr':tal r0search. He has been 

active in HDD as Chp.irmun of the Pa.nel ,on F'uels Requiring oxidizers 

undoi• tho Committee qn Fuels and l1ub1•ica.nts. Dr~ Gunness and his. wife, 

Mrs. Bevo1 l~' O, Gunness, with their thrGC:J chilaren., Robo11 t c., Jr.,12; 

Donald A., 10; ?-nd Beverl;y Anno, 6.J live in Flossmoor, Illinois. 

' ' J I ****** . Edwin A. s;eakman, who booonms n Vi.ce. Chaj_rman~ rece:tved his B. s. · d~gree i4 piiysic-s · j_n 193 l ·from Ho.vcrforcl Coll~ge, Have;i.".tord,PBnnsylvan:ta, 

where hu ~ms a schplarship student. From 1931 to 1934, Mr. Speakman 

was instruct; or in· phystcs at Haverford College and as p.::1rt of his 

graduate study invc,nted a photo-olectric tim:Lng s-y stem on which he 

holds a pa tont, '11h:ls is the first system which used a light boam for 

, b,iming raco,a a.utomo.tically and to an accuracy of .01 second. In 1934, 

Mr, Speakman joined the resea11 ch laboratories of tho Philco Corporation 

as a' rndio 011e;inoo1•. fiore he invented th0 t'e+~s'copic rod antenna which 

has besn adopted for use on all radio-equipped automobiles, Subaequont• 

ly, he 'forked with Philco Corporation and automob,ile companies on 

ma tteJ:'s rcl[',ting to the development and production of olect:rohic 

oquipmont. - · , · , -~· 

· Afto1~ serving as a physicist with the Curtis Publishing Company 

for a brief period in 1939, Mr. Speakman wa.s appointed to :~he Naval 

Research L~boratory in Washlngton, D.C, Here, he held the positions 

of Assisto.nt Superintendent of the Radio Division and hoadod the 

Counter•moo..sur,:is Branch of tho J.;aboratory f:rom 1940 to 1949. During 

this period, he also initiated dovelopnwnts ·ror No.val J:.•adar equipment. 

~or this work he receiv~d the Navy 1 s M8rltorious Civilian Sorvice 

A.ward in i9Jt6 • 

.Mr. Speakman joined the staff of the Rosearch and Development 

800.rd in Mo;ii''. 19JJ.9 as executive directoi" of th8 C 0111mi t toe on ElGctronics, 

D .A. Quarles, vice president of tho Bell 1rclephono Labora.toric s, is 

chairmn:r;i of bhiS". Committee which is responsible fol" coordinating all 

milita1-ry research and development in the field of'. electron:Lcs, 

Mr. Spoakmnn is n S~nior Mombor of the Institute of Radio Enginoers, ruornbe:i:• of the Allloricnn Physical Society, and foi•mer member of 

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• REF ID: A65852 • 

ths U.S. Civil Sorvico Board of Examiners for• Scientific and Toclmical 

1 ··personnel. Ho has beun active also in civic affairs a.s presidm1t of 

tho li1ail1 i'ax Villago Citlz8ns Association and as o, dcl0gato to the D.C. 

~ FedLration of Citizens Associations. 

Ml". SpcC'.km.an 1 s homo is in Na.rbc1·th, Pennsylvania, wher0 he 

attsnded Lmrcir Merion High School, graduatln(i in 1927. Ho l'8sldes 

with his wifo and two do.ughtors, Suzo.ru1t:', 8; a.nd Patri.cia Aime, 

5 nonths, o.t S636 Grocmwa:y Drive, s.g. Mrs. Speakman (nee Doroth~' 

McClellan) comes f'roin Haddonfield, New Jorsc'J', and is a grCLdw:.:.t0 of 

Glassboro State College, Gla~sboro, Nev Jersoy. 

END 

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