Waldo K . Lyon Waldo Kampmeier Lyon ( May 19 , 1914 – May 5 , 1998 ) was the founder and chief research scientist for the U . S . Navy of the Arctic Submarine Laboratory at the Naval Electronics Laboratory . He retired in 1996 after 55 years of government service . During his career he advised top Navy officials on essential matters of national defense and was personally thanked by Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy for his efforts . Military career . For 51 years , Dr . Lyon worked for Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center , San Diego ( SSC San Diego ) and its predecessor organizations . Dr . Lyon started work there less than a year after its June 1940 establishment as the Navy Radio and Sound Lab , as their first Ph . D . physicist . He was charged with forming and directing initial efforts of the Sound Division . The lab was used during World War II for testing , repairing and modifying submarine equipment and harbor defense systems in the Pacific Ocean . During the war , German U - boat s in the Gulf of St . Lawrence were undetectable , because sonar failed under the surface ice . Dr . Lyon addressed this problem by designing and testing sonar and oceanographic equipment for the submarine USS " Boarfish " ( SS - 327 ) and participating in the ship ' s first under - ice dives . His recommendation initiated an effort that would last over four decades . In 1947 Dr . Lyon became head of the Naval Electronics Laboratory ' s , Submarine Studies Branch in the Research Division . Dr . Lyon had a test pool constructed at Battery Whistler ( a converted mortar battery at NEL ) to test equipment for deep submergence vehicles like Bathyscaphe " Trieste " . The pool was equipped to grow sea ice and study its physical properties . In addition , he established a field station at Cape Prince of Wales , Alaska in 1951 . Equipment and techniques were designed and tested to enable submarine operation in the Arctic Ocean . Brine content and ice elasticity were measured to apply in the design of submarines that could surface through the ice cover . Cold rooms and calibration facilities at the Arctic Submarine Laboratory were used to solve the problem of icing on submarine snorkel head valves . The research culminated in the transpolar submerged voyage of USS " Nautilus " ( SSN - 571 ) in 1958 . Dr . Lyon ' s career included scores of under - ice cruises to gain scientific knowledge essential to Arctic submarine operations . He and researcher Art Roshon developed an under - ice sonar that allowed completion of the first winter cruise by " Sturgeon " class submarines . Through the 1970s and 1980s Dr . Lyon ' s ongoing research at the Arctic Submarine Laboratory resulted in refurbishment and improvement of the Lab ' s cryogenic facilities . These facilities were used for evaluating icing issues on " Los Angeles " class submarines , sonar technology developments for remote acoustic measurement of ice thickness , and the ice breakthrough tests for " Seawolf " class submarines . Awards . Dr . Lyon received major awards including : He also received numerous non - governmental awards including : Last years . Dr Lyon remained active in Arctic research even after retirement . He collaborated with Dr . William M . Leary on a book detailing development of the submarine Arctic warfare program entitled , " , " published in January 1999 . Less than two weeks before his death , he met with the president of the prestigious Explorer ' s Club to plan an expedition to the North Pole . They had planned to dive to the sea floor at the Pole . He died at the age of 84 on May 5 , 1998 . A memorial service was held on June 20 , 1998 at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego . Per his family ' s wishes , Dr . Lyon ' s ashes were scattered at the North Pole by USS " Hawkbill " ( SSN - 666 ) on May 3 , 1999 . Friends and colleagues of Dr . Lyon have established a memorial scholarship , administered by the UCLA Foundation , to be awarded to a deserving student in the Physics Department at the University of California , Los Angeles ( UCLA ) , Dr . Lyon ' s alma mater .