l86 ORGANIZING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FOR WAR 



Between January 1942 and its merger with the contract section in Decem- 

 ber 1945, the project control section was headed at various times by Mrs. 

 Olga Walsh, Mrs. Virginia Corcoran, and Miss Frances Cathcart. 



Patent Division 



The patent policy of OSRD and its administration are the subject of 

 Chapter XV. Division headquarters were in Washington with Captain 

 R. A. Lavender, USN (Retired), as advisor on patent matters and Lieuten- 

 ant Colonel P. P. Stoutenburgh as his first assistant. Attorneys, who for 

 the most part were Army or Navy officers detailed to OSRD, were assigned 

 to follow inventions in the various parts of OSRD. Excluding a much 

 larger number working on the atomic energy program under War Depart- 

 ment contracts as well as OSRD contracts, the patent division at its peak 

 had twelve attorneys with appropriate supporting staffs. Offices were main- 

 tained in Washington, Boston, New York and Chicago. 



Legal Division 



Until December 9, 1940, NDRC relied upon Oscar Cox, Assistant Gen- 

 eral Counsel of the Treasury Department, for legal assistance in accord- 

 ance with arrangements made by the Council of National Defense. On 

 that date Beverly Thompson, Jr., joined the staff as Counsel, but Cox 

 remained available for consultation and review until late in 1942. Thomp- 

 son resigned in April 1942 to enter the Army. His successor as head attor- 

 ney was Albert M. Herrmann, who left for the Navy in October 1942. 

 John T. Connor, who had joined the legal staff in April 1942, succeeded 

 Herrmann as head legal advisor; he became the first General Counsel of 

 OSRD, which position he held until he joined the Marine Corps in June 

 1944. Connor was succeeded as General Counsel by Oscar M. Ruebhausen, 

 who continued in the post until February i, 1946. E. Tefft Barker, a mem- 

 ber of the legal staff since 1943, succeeded Ruebhausen as General Counsel. 

 He in turn was succeeded on June 11, 1946, by Charles F. Brown as Act- 

 ing General Counsel. 



OSRD was fortunate in the composition and attitude of its legal staff. 

 As a new and temporary organization with a scientific staff made up 

 largely of volunteers impressed with the urgency of their assignment but 

 with a background of academic freedom, a minimum of administrative 

 restraint, and an abhorrence of "red tape," OSRD was unusually sus- 

 ceptible to the influence of its legal staff. Fortunately, that staff was also 

 impressed with the importance and urgency of the task to be done and 

 concentrated upon finding ways to give scientists the necessary freedom. 

 The contract which was the basis of OSRD operations may well prove 



