Profile: Ivan A. Getting
Steven R. Strom
The Aerospace Corporation lost its founding president and one of its most ardent advocates when Dr. Ivan A. Getting died October 11, 2003. From the company's founding in 1960 until his retirement in 1977, Getting's name was virtually synonymous with Aerospace. A brilliant visionary, he contributed to the world in ways that extend far beyond the company. Just last year, he shared the prestigious Draper Prize for his contributions to the development of the Global Positioning System, now recognized as one of the greatest aids to navigation in centuries.
Getting's accomplishments have been cited numerous times in the flood of obituaries that chronicled his life: the development during World War II of the SCR-584 radar tracking system, which intercepted German V-1 rockets fired at England and saved thousands of lives; his oversight of the production of transistors while serving as vice president of Raytheon, the first time this was done on a commercial basis; his contributions in 1956 to the Project Nobska study, which recommended the development of a submarine-based ballistic missile that ultimately became the Polaris; and major contributions to the Mercury and Gemini space programs during his first years as president of Aerospace. These are just a few of his outstanding achievements.
Nonetheless, Getting was most proud of the role he played in the formation of The Aerospace Corporation. In the company's formative years, Getting, more than anyone else, established the culture of uncompromising excellence that still endures more than four decades later. Under Getting's direction, Aerospace became a close and valued partner of the Air Force in the development of national security space systems. Max Weiss, who organized the Electronics Laboratory in 1961 and retired as Engineering Group Vice President in 1986, recalls that it was Getting's "absolute dedication to the importance of laboratory research at Aerospace" that "made the company much more effective as a trusted advisor to the government." Getting took time to mentor the younger members of the Aerospace staff, and Weiss noted that his delight in doing so, combined with his "passion for excellence," his good sense of humor, and his "vision and integrity," helped "set the tone for Aerospace, which made it a pleasure to work there."
In addition to his support for Aerospace's technical and scientific operations, Getting was a strong advocate for continuing education in the development of the Aerospace workforce, and not just in science and mathematics. During his tenure as president of the IEEE in the late 1970s, Getting helped establish the organization's History Center. He was, in his own words, "a strong supporter of the role that history has to play in any organization." He was also a great admirer of Crosslink, and felt that the magazine played a vital role in explaining to the outside world the importance of Aerospace activities. Just three days before his death, he contributed to the article on the Dyna-Soar program that appears in this issue.
Getting's innovative contributions extended to matters that most folks at Aerospace take for granted, including the design of the main corporate campus in El Segundo. Getting closely followed the planning of new facilities for Aerospace, which began in 1963, making sure that the buildings were well designed and well lit and the grounds nicely landscaped to "create an environment that would help to foster the creative thinking of Aerospace employees." He often worked late into the night with the architects and designers to ensure that the Aerospace buildings would be conducive to the company's overall mission.
Getting's brilliant mind was active right up to the time of his death. George Paulikas, former executive vice president, remembers that "he had a seemingly unbounded curiosity in matters scientific and technical. I recall that talking to him about a technical subject in 1961, or 2001 for that matter, was an invitation to discover how much you really knew—like a graduate school oral exam!" Max Weiss ably summarized Getting's long career and the qualities for which he will be remembered: "He was an extraordinary figure of the 20th century, a brilliant scientist and engineer, a great leader of men and women, a major force in the defense of our freedom during World War II and the Cold War, a dreamer of dreams who willed them into reality, and above all a wonderful human being."
