Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 22
OCR for page 23
STANLEY W. BURRISS
1910-1979
BY ELMER P. WHEATON
STANLEY W BURRISS retired President of the Lockheed Missiles
and Space Company, died on March 22, 1979. He joined Lockheed
in 1954 and swiftly rose to become one of the key leaders in the
development of the revolutionary Fleet Ballistic Missile weapons
system. He not only assumed the task of directing this unprece-
dented scientific, engineering, and management undertaking, he
also contributed a number of significant technical ideas and methods
that helped assure the project's success.
Stan Burriss was born on July 15, 1910, in New York City. He
received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Newark
College of Engineering and pursued further studies in mathematics,
management, radar and electronics, nuclear physics, and global
strategy at City College of New York, Bowdoin College, Massachu-
setts Institute of Technology, the Los Alamos Laboratory, and the
Naval War College.
His engineering and management accomplishments earned him
many honors. He was a Fellow of the American Institute of Aero-
nautics and Astronautics and of the Royal Aeronautical Society of
Great Britain. He was elected a member of the National Academy of
Engineering in 1968. He was a member of the Association of the
U.S. Army, the Air Force Association, the Navy League, the U.S.
Naval Institute, the American Ordnance Association, and the
Armed Forces Management Association.
Mr. Burriss received the National Management Association's Sil-
23
OCR for page 24
24
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
ver Knight of Management Award; the Edward F. Weston Distin-
guished Alumni Award and the honorary Doctor of Engineering
degree from Newark College of Engineering; the Certificate of
Appreciation from the Secretary of the Army; and the Navy's high-
est civilian honor, the U.S. Navy Meritorious Public Service Award.
Stan Burriss had a crowded lifetime of technical and management
accomplishments, but the most significant was his contribution to
the creation of the Fleet Ballistic Missile, the several generations of
Polaris, Poseidon, and now Trident. These missiles are unique
among existing devices; they are required to operate in three media:
water, the sensible atmosphere, and near space. They were begun in
a period of perceived national peril when the task of developing the
revolutionary new system had to be accomplished in an unprece-
dented time span. In addition to directing this massive effort, he
made personal contributions that led to completing the project more
than five years ahead of schedule.
A major example was his decision to reduce R&D test instrumen-
tation by 40 percent after the scientists and engineers of both Lock-
heed and the Navy had attained the irreducible minimum thought
possible at that time. This decision resulted in the delivery of opera-
tional Polaris missiles in half the time that traditional methods would
have required.
In addition, he contributed in many technical areas such as the
development of beryllium applications and thrust control methods
jetavators, jet tabs, asymmetric nozzle rotation all of which were
innovations in practical aeronautics at the time of their application to
Polaris development vehicles. Of particular significance, the reentry
problems that were solved provided invaluable data for future
manned spaceflight and reentry.
Over a period of eight years, Mr. Burriss introduced and per-
suaded Navy, submarine, and missile people on technical compro-
mises without which schedule commitments would not have been
met. His judicious management of technical and operational team
resources was a prime factor in the successful development of the
Polaris A-1, A-2, and A-3 missiles.
He made numerous other contributions to engineering science.
OCR for page 25
STANLEY W. BURRISS
25
While with the Los Alarnos Scientific Laboratory, he served as direc-
tor on important programs for weapon improvements, including
research in the basic physical sciences concerning shock phenomena.
This work resulted, in particular, in the design of experiments and
instrumentation that led to reductions in the size and weight of
fission weapons. As Test Director at Eniwetok Proving Grounds, he
was in command of the scientific Task Group 132.1 for Operation
Ivy, the first thermonuclear bomb test. He also served as Chief of
Staff and Test Director for Operation Greenhouse. During this oper-
ation, he directed the development of a fast response interferometer
device for measuring pressure versus time in the blast wave.
Stan Burriss made still other contributions during his Navy ser-
vice as Tactical Evaluation Officer in the fields of radar, electronics,
and communications. During Operation Crossroads at Bikini, he
was assigned to Staff Commander joint Task Force 1, in charge of
. . . .
instrumentation timing operations.
He had a wide range of interests outside his technical fields. He
was a lifelong student of management and of people's roles and
needs in the industrial process. He was quietly and deeply religious,
and particularly interested in the application of Christian principles
in the business setting.
He was an avid student of the oceans, their history, their ecosys-
tems, and their mechanics. He enjoyed philosophy, and especially
the transitional area where it approaches mathematics and the devel-
opment of the sciences. He studied and enjoyed a wide range of
music and worked with and for a number of community programs,
especially the Boy Scouts of America.
When one reads the many comments of friends and associates
who worked with him, two threads run through them. First, Stan
Burriss was a gentleman, a friend, and a sincere man who pursued
his work with thoroughness and strong conviction. Second, the
world enjoys peace today because men like Stan Burriss lived and
worked to deter war. Rear Admiral Robert Wertheim said, "None
of our industrial teammates contributed more to the success of the
Polaris program than Stan Burriss. The continuing deterrence to
nuclear war provided by the Fleet Ballistic Missile System today is a
OCR for page 26
26
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
living memorial to this dedicated American, businessman, and sci-
entist. "
Admiral Levering Smith said, "We mourn the loss of a teammate
who was a pioneer in every field he entered.... We honor the
memory of a leader who played a major role in preventing nuclear
war in his time and, we trust, for the future."
OCR for page 27
Representative terms from entire chapter:
ballistic missile
