Wayne E . Meyer Rear Admiral Wayne E . Meyer ( April 21 , 1926 – September 1 , 2009 ) is regarded as the " Father of Aegis " for his 13 years of service as the Aegis Weapon System Manager and later the founding project manager of the Aegis Shipbuilding Project Office . He retired from the United States Navy in 1985 as the Deputy Commander for Weapons and Combat Systems , Naval Sea Systems , Naval Sea Systems Command and Ordnance Officer of the Navy . Education . Meyer graduated from the University of Kansas in 1946 as a B . S . in Electrical Engineering . He also held a B . S . in Electrical Engineering and a M . S . in Astronautics and Aeronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , and a B . S . in Electrical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School . Early childhood . Wayne E . Meyer was born to Eugene and Nettie Meyer ( now deceased ) in Brunswick , Missouri , on April 21 , 1926 . His first four years of school were in Warden District School ( eight grades in one room with a wood stove ) under Helen Duncan . His father and family were livestock and grain farmers , plowing the land referred to by locals as the " gumbo " . Meyer ' s father Eugene was displaced in the drought and the Great Depression and lost everything in 1935 . He and his family of four children moved eleven miles into clay country five miles North of Brunswick . Wayne and siblings were enrolled in St . Boniface Catholic School , a 2 - room schoolhouse . Sister Mary Joann was his teacher for the next four years with grades five through eight combined in one room . Enrolled in the 140 - pupil Brunswick High School in 1939 , his primary teacher ( and principal ) was Miss Edith Marston . Under her tutelage , he and three other boys had been prepared by her to take a three day Armed Services competitive exam in January 1943 , which all passed . In April they were called to Kansas City to examine their physical fitness for enlistment in a competitive college program created by President Roosevelt , called the V - 12 in the Navy . Meyer passed the exam . Early career . He enlisted in the U . S . Naval Reserve on May 12 , 1943 after his parents signed the required papers , as he was only 17 at the time . Meyer graduated from high school on May 23 as president of his class and valedictorian . In June he was called to active duty as Seaman Apprentice , USNR , reporting to the University of Kansas on July 1 . Meyer was enrolled in the University ' s Engineering School as his primary duty . He completed eight semesters towards his degree on February 1 , 1946 . Later that month the Navy ordered the remainder of that Naval Unit ( only 35 out of approximately 500 originally ) to be commissioned as Ensign USNR , and the University awarded him a B . S . in Electrical Engineering ( with Communications and Pre - Radar option ) . After 11 months at M . I . T . in Radar / Sonar training ( and an additional B . S . in Electrical Engineering with an Electronics option ) , he was ordered to radar picket destroyer . He qualified for Officer of the Deck underway at the age of 20 . Meyer subsequently served as part of the Occupation Forces in the Mediterranean along with service in the Greek Civil War . He was part of the force supporting the creation of Israel in 1948 . He was also accepted for augmentation and transfer of his officer commission to the Regular Navy that year . Over the next two decades he served in the occupation forces in Japanese and in Chinese waters . His ship , the light gun cruiser , was in the mouth of the Huangpu River when Chiang Kai Shek ' s Nationalist forces fell to Mao Zedong ' s Red Army in March 1949 . Probably the last U . S . warship in China , his ship sailed for home only to head to Hunters Point , San Francisco shipyard for decommissioning . From 1951 through 1955 , he attended the Joint Guided Missile School , Fort Bliss , Texas , the Naval Line School , Monterey , California , and served as instructor at the Special ( atomic ) Weapons School , Norfolk , Virginia . He returned to sea as Executive Officer on followed by service on the Staff , Commander , Destroyer Force , Atlantic . Later , he returned to Monterey to study Ordnance Engineering , followed again by M . I . T for 12 months . Here he was awarded one of the early master ' s degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics . Then he was ordered to the guided - missile cruiser as Fire Control officer and subsequently Gunnery Officer for her conversion as the first TALOS Cruiser . He has fired , in exercises and tests , more TALOS missiles than any other person . Later career . In 1963 , Navy Secretary Fred Korth chose then - Commander Meyer to serve in the Navy Task Force for Surface Guided Missile Systems , commanded by RADM Eli T . Reich . His work at the Terrier Desk led to his appointment to lead the engineering effort to shift the 30 Terrier - armed ships from analog to high - speed digital systems . Turning down a destroyer command to continue this prelude to advanced weapons system design , he transferred from unrestricted line officer status to restricted line and was appointed an Ordnance Engineering Duty Officer the same year he was selected for promotion to Captain . He was 40 years old . In 1967 , he reported as Director of Engineering at the Naval Ship Missile Systems Engineering Station , Port Hueneme , California ( now known as Naval Surface Warfare Center , Port Hueneme Division or NSWC PHD ) . In 1970 , he was recalled to Washington and reported to the Naval Ordnance Systems Command as Manager , Aegis Weapon System . The Aegis project was begun by the Navy as the Advanced Surface Missile System ( ASMS ) . Following the cancellation of the Typhon project , the Navy began work on ASMS to arm the fleet against the advanced Soviet air threats expected in the 1960s and 1970s . After receiving seven concept proposals from arms makers , the Navy Secretary recalled retired RADM Frederic S . Withington ( a former Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance ) to active duty to recommend one for development . Withington delivered a report to the Secretary on May 15 , 1965 , recommending a phased array S - Band radar to search and track air targets , six slaved X - band radars for illumination and fire control , a digital control system compatible with the Naval Tactical Data System , a standard missile that could be directed in flight , and a dual - rail launcher . The report also recommended choosing a prime contractor to develop the system and improving existing missiles . In 1969 , RCA was awarded a contract to begin development . Meyer arrived in 1970 , a leader experienced in system development , familiar with current fleet problems , and savvy enough to deal with the Navy and DoD hierarchy to see the project through to completion . He insisted upon rigorous system engineering discipline throughout the project , and spent considerable effort ensuring that all participants understood what the system was required to do , and what their role was . Key to specifying and measuring system performance was the development of the three functional cornerstones ( Detect , Control , Engage ) and the five operational cornerstones : Meyer ' s philosophy of " Build a Little , Test a Little , Learn a Lot " drove the testing and milestones of the Aegis system . Having witnessed problems with existing missile systems related to a lack of testing , tests that incorporated too many objectives , and failed system integration efforts requiring massive " get well " programs , he drove the project to conduct numerous tests in development and in delivery of production gear prior to ship installation . Meyer was also named Project Manager ( the final one ) for Surface Missile Systems in 1972 , and in July 1974 he was named the first Director of Surface Warfare , in the new Naval Sea Systems Command . He was selected for Rear Admiral in January 1975 at age 49 . In July , he became the founding Project Manager , Aegis Shipbuilding , with project code PMS - 400 . The first Aegis - equipped ship , , was not decided upon in a day . Throughout the project ' s development , the size and armament of the ship was the subject of vigorous debate within the Navy , the Office of the Secretary of Defense , and Congress . The proposed ships ranged from a 5 , 000 - ton " austere " ship promoted by Admiral Zumwalt to a nuclear strike cruiser displacing three times as much . The type of ship , cruiser or destroyer was also a subject of debate . The Aegis system was eventually installed on a modified version of the hull , the first of which was designated as DDG - 47 , and later changed to CG - 47 . The ship was appropriated in 1978 , and shortly after construction began at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula , Mississippi . CG - 47 was commissioned on January 22 , 1983 , and a short nine months later fired guns at Lebanon . Meyer and the project team were proud that the ship was ready to fight so shortly after commissioning . A second class of Aegis ship began with concept studies in 1978 . The class was to replace the aging DDG - 2 and DDG - 37 class destroyers and handle the same air threats as the CG - 47 class . The project responsibility originally lay outside of PMS 400 , in another functional code in the Naval Sea Systems Command ( NAVSEA 93 ) . However , by May 1982 , the project was put under Meyer ' s control in PMS 400 , with a lead ship awarded 1985 to Bath Iron Works , Bath , Maine . Like the " Ticonderoga " , the ship was designed with an Aegis Combat System , modified for installation in the destroyer and less heavily armed . The ship was commissioned as on July 4 , 1991 . In September 1983 , Meyer was reassigned as Deputy Commander , Weapons and Combat Systems , Naval Sea Systems Command . He retired from active duty in 1985 . In 1985 the American Society of Naval Engineers presented him with the Society ’ s Harold E . Saunders Award for lifetime contributions to naval engineering Since the commissioning of USS " Ticonderoga " , Meyer has attended every commissioning of an Aegis ship . This includes 27 cruiser s and 49 destroyer s at the time of this writing ( the entire DDG - 51 class appropriated is 62 ships , the last of which is projected to be commissioned in 2012 ) . Recent history . Rear Admiral Meyer ran a consultancy with offices in Crystal City , Virginia . He chaired and served on numerous panels and committees chartered by various United States Department of Defense civil and military officials , and was especially involved with the Surface Navy and the Missile Defense Agency ( formerly the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and Strategic Defense Initiative Organization ) in developing ballistic missile defense capability for the nation ' s Aegis fleet of cruisers and destroyers . He continued to live in Falls Church , VA with his wife Anna Mae , stepson Edward and two cats . His late wife Margaret was the sponsor , and his granddaughter Peggy was the Maid of Honor for the Aegis guided - missile cruiser . He has three adult children ( Paula , James and Robert ) , 2 stepchildren ( Anna and Edward ) and four grandchildren . RADM Meyer is one of a handful of persons to have a ship named in his honor while still alive . The Chief of Naval Operations announced on November 27 , 2006 that is named in his honor . She will be the 85th Aegis ship to be constructed and wield the 100th Aegis system to be delivered to the Navy . She was christened on October 18 , 2008 at Bath Iron Works in Maine . Christening speakers included Maine Senators Olympia Snowe & Susan Collins , Maine Congressmen Tom Allen and Michael Michaud , Maine Governor John Baldacci , Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead , Assistant Secretary of the Navy Sean Stackley , Bath Iron Works president Dugan Shipway , and – of course – Rear Admiral Meyer . The Aegis Shipbuilding project is scheduled to conclude with DDG - 112 , and is the longest continuous shipbuilding project in U . S . Navy history , with 27 cruisers and 62 destroyers authorized since 1978 . Admiral Meyer died on September 1 , 2009 and was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on September 17 , 2009 . The ship named in his honor was commissioned on October 10 , 2009 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Awards and decorations . Rear Admiral Meyer ' s personal decorations and service medals include :