CHAPTER II 



Dahlgren's First Leading 

 Scientist 



Dr. L. T. E. Thompson 



Dr. Thompson holds a BS from Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 

 and an AM and a PhD from Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts. He 

 was instructor and then assistant professor of Physics at Clark from 1917 until 

 1919. From 1923 until 1942, Dr. Thompson was Chief Physicist at the Naval 

 Proving Ground, Dahlgren, before moving to the Norden Company, and was 

 Technical Director of the Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, Califor- 

 nia, from 1945 until 1951. 



Among the many other notable positions held by Dr. Thompson are Vice 

 President of the Norden Labs Corporation; Vice President for Research, Nor- 

 den Ketay Corporation; Consultant, Norden Division of United Aircraft Cor- 

 poration; Consultant, Office of the Director, Special Projects, Navy Depart- 

 ment; Member of the Ordnance Evaluation Group; Member, Advisory Group, 

 Science Advisory Board, U. S. Air Force; Vice Chairman, Research and De- 

 velopment Board, Department of Defense; and Chairman, Technical Advisory 

 Panel of Ordnance, Transportation, and Supply. He received the Civilian 

 Service Award of the Navy Department in 1952 and the Distinguished Public 

 Service Award in 1961. He served as a member of the Naval Weapons Labora- 

 tory Advisory Council from 1955 until 1966. 



The following interview was conducted by Cynthia Rouse in Dr. Thompson's 

 home in Scarsdale, New York, on December 8, 1976. 



After World War I, most scientists who had been employed by the government to conduct 

 military research programs returned to the academic community feeling that their tenure 

 with the government had been a waste of time. Why did you, in 1 923, choose to come with 

 the government to such an isolated location as Dahlgren to continue your work in 

 ballistics"? 



It's difficult to identify the primary factor influencing my decision, but 

 people did have strange feelings about working with the military. That was one 

 of the reasons why I felt it was so important to continue working with them. The 

 military needed the kind of help that could come from people who had been 



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