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WILFRID E. JOHNSON
1905-1985
BY ROY H. BEATON
WILFRID E. JOHNSON, an early pioneer in the nation's jet
engine program and a key figure in the success of national
nuclear programs (both weapons and electric power), died
on February 10, 1985, at age seventy-nine. At the time of
his death, he had been retired for over ten years while
residing in RichIand, Washington, with his wife of over fifty-
four years, Esther Taylor Johnson. Although originally a
skilled machinist-mechanic, he rose to become an "engineer's
engineer," a highly effective industrial manager, and a top
federal administrator in a "series" of careers.
Wilfrid Johnson was born in a small coastal town, Whitley
Bay, England, on May 24, 1905. As was the custom in that
part of the world at that time, he left school to go to work
after completing the first eight grades at the age of twelve.
With his mother and step-father, he emigrated to the United
States when he was fifteen years old, arriving in Astoria,
Oregon, in September 1920.
Wilfrid served as a machinist's apprentice at Pacific Machine
& Blacksmith Shop in Astoria on the Columbia River for
six years. Enroute to receiving his Journeyman's certificate
at age twenty-one, he became recognized as a most capable
and dedicated mechanic in the repair en c} maintenance of
all types of marine engines in the hundreds of small and
large fishing boats making Astoria their home port.
157
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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
In 1926 when he was twenty-one, he became a natural-
ized citizen of the United States. Simultaneously, he learned
that under federal law "Land Grant" colleges like Oregon
State College were required to admit student applicants
over twenty-one without high school diplomas, providing
they continued work on obtaining a diploma. Accordingly,
Wilfrid enrolled in mechanical engineering at Oregon State
College at Corvallis in 1926 while studying high school courses
on his own. By "burning the candle at both ends," Wilfrid
received his diploma in 1928 and in 1930 his B.S. in mechanical
engineering from Oregon State College. At his graduation
he received the Joseph H. Albert Award as the "Outstanding
Senior in Engineering School."
Prior to graduation Wilfrid had been signed up by Gen-
eral Electric Company (GE) recruiters at the Corvallis campus.
He then journeyed to Schenectady, New York, to report for
work, where he was assigned as a design and development
engineer in refrigeration engineering, a position he was to
fill with steadily increasing responsibility for the next ten
years. Meanwhile, Wilfrid continued to press his suit with
his college sweetheart, Esther Taylor, back at Oregon State
College. They were married in 1930.
In GE refrigeration engineering, Wilfrid became both a
prolific inventor and technical paper writer during the 1930s,
turning out papers on everything mechanical from diesel
engine crankshafts to cone pulleys, flexural springs, and
compressors, and obtaining and assigning to GE about a
dozen patents on refrigeration devices. During this period,
among other achievements, he successfully designed and
developed the first hermetically sealed compressors for use
in household refrigerators. Later, he also designecI and
developed the first "service-sealed" compressor for use in
commercial water coolers. In 1939 Wilfrid was granted an
M.S. in mechanical engineering by Oregon State College,
based almost entirely on the number and quality of his
technical papers published after he had received his B.S.
degree.
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WILFRID E. JOHNSON
159
Early in World War IT, Wilfrid was transferred into cIassi-
fiect aircraft engine turbo-supercharger development and
production operations of GE at Lynn, Massachusetts, and
Syracuse, New York. He successfully brought previously
developed superchargers into high-volume production by
applying ingenious manufacturing engineering techniques.
He coordinated the design work at five different plants
and closely supervised the design development of the CH-5
supercharger. This new supercharger, when combined with
an improved version of a Pratt & Whitney engine, rejuvenated
production of the P-57 (Thunderbolt) aircraft, ultimately
one of the most successful planes in the Allied arsenal.
Still later in World War IT (194~45), while serving as
division engineer in GE's Aircraft Gas Turbine Engineering
Division, Syracuse, New York, Wilfrid recruited, organized,
and trained an engineering force to carry out the develop-
ment and production testing of early jet engines for aircraft.
This organization accepted an incompletely developecl jet
engine design from Frank Whipple of British Rolls Royce,
completed its development, and successfully placed it in
production. Wilfrid subsequently became general manager
of this first U.S. jet engine production plant. No engine
produced by this GE Syracuse plant ever failed in flight.
During the period 1945-4S, Wilfrid served as manager of
GE's Engineering, Air Conditioning Department. In this
position he rebuilt the entire postwar organization and
successfully converted the department back to peacetime
production. In 1948 because of his effectiveness in these
activities, he was transferred to the Hanford Atomic Products
Operation at RichIanci, Washington, owned by the U.S. Atomic
Energy Commission (AEC) and operated under contract
by GE. For several years he served as manager of design
and construction. In 1951 he was made assistant general
manager, and in 1952 he became general manager, where
he served until 1966.
During this period, Wilfrid was responsible for carrying
out a massive postwar program of design, construction, start-
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60
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
up, and subsequent successful operation of many new plu-
tonium production and product separation facilities at Hanford.
These included at least five new production reactors (two
of them twice as large as any built before), a new Redox
and later a Purex solvent extraction separations plant, a
Remotely-Operated Final Metal-Purification Plant (23~5),
and eventually the AEC's first dual-purpose (plutonium and
power production) New Production Reactor (NPR). This
reactor was shut down for updating and modernization af-
ter more than twenty-three years of successfully producing
weapons-grade plutonium and waste heat steam for the
generation of eight hundred megawatts of electric power.
For his successful direction of all these activities, the AEC
awarded Wilfric} in 1966 its Special Citation for Leadership.
On May I, 1966, Wilfrid elected to take an optional early
retirement from GE, but continued to serve as a consultant
to the company's new Nuclear Power Operations headquartered
at San Jose, California. Shortly thereafter President Johnson
appointed him a commissioner of the AEC. Approved by
the U.S. Senate, Wilfrid took office on August I, 1966, fi~-
ing the unexpired term of Commissioner John G. Palfrey.
On June 8, 1967, President Johnson reappointed him for a
new five-year term of his own, extending through June 30,
1972. During this period, Wilfrid participated actively in
the AEC's extensive expansion of its licensing of commercial
nuclear power plants.
Wilfrid Johnson was professionally active throughout his
long career. In 1938 he received the "Outstanding Young
Engineer Within Ten Years" award from Pi Tau Sigma. In
1959 he was granted an honorary D. Eng. degree from Or-
egon State College and also elected to Sigma Xi. In 1968
he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for
his "contributions to jet engine manufacturing engineering
and nuclear materials production." He was a fellow of
both the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and
the American Nuclear Society, as well as a member of the
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WILFRID E. JOHNSON
16
honorary societies of Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma
Tau, and Pi Tau Sigma.
Wilfrid and Esther Johnson raised three children: Louise
McKee of Bellevue, Washington, and Robert and Richard,
both of New York City. Wilfrid had a lifelong love affair
with horses as an avocation, beginning as a young boy. He
learned to ride with professional skill while a member of
the R.O.T.C. at Oregon State College, where he became a
member of Scabbard & Blade before receiving his commission
as 2nd Lieutenant in Field Artillery. He did not get his
own horse until he had been married for ten years, but was
rarely without horses from that time on.
Wilfrid remained personally grateful to this country
throughout his lifetime for what he perceived it had offered
to him in opportunities and rewards for a young immigrant
boy with little initial formal schooling. On the other hand,
he more than paid for his advancement and rewards by
dedicated hard work and striving for perfection on everything
he touched or worked on. Those who worked around him,
either above or below, were compelled to perform similarly!
Overall, Wilfrid Johnson was most impressive as an asso-
ciate, awesome as a boss, and miles ahead of his time in the
application of the principles of professional business man-
agement. He was the kind of man who will always be missed
very much!
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
state college
