| Title: |
Reminiscences of Simon Ramo
|
| RLIN number: |
NXCP90-A14
|
| Document type: |
Oral history
|
| Accessibility: |
Free Only
|
| Repository: |
Columbia University. Oral History Research Office
|
| Collection: |
American Entrepreneurs Project
|
| Description: |
Family background, childhood in Salt Lake City; Mormon-Jewish relations; early interest in science, mathematics, music; engineering studies at University of Utah, B.S., 1933; influence of Depression; graduate work at California Institute of Technology: recollections of Robert A. Millikan, Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Edward Teller, Dean Wooldridge; fellow students, high voltage engineering; religious discrimination in engineering field; employment with General Electric: move to Schenectady, New York, training program, General Electric laboratory; head of General Electric research team in microwaves and electron optics; classified work during World War II; first book, FIELDS AND WAVES IN MODERN RADIO, 1944; recollections of General Electric mentor C.W. La Pierre; work on rocketry and jet engine turbines at California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory; United States air defense needs, expanding weapons systems business; development of Hughes Aircraft, impressions of Howard Hughes; creation of Falcon missile; expansion of Hughes Aircraft, work with Dean Wooldridge; break with Hughes; creation of Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation; development of intercontinental ballistic missile system; imbalance between technological problems and social maturity; nuclear arms issue; role of private industry and government in science, technology, and the economy; merger of Ramo-Wooldridge and Thompson Products; reflections on career motivations, role as entrepreneur, long-term vs. short-term planning; summary of personal accomplishments and disappointments.
|
| Extent: |
Transcript: 480 leaves
|
| Restrictions: |
Access: Open. Permission required to cite, quote, or reproduce. Contact repository for information.
|
| Original Language: |
English
|
| Time span: |
Not indicated ... to 1984 (Year of interview)
|
| Speaker: |
Ramo, Simon, 1913-
|
| Speaker gender: |
Male
|
| Speaker date of birth: |
1913
|
| Speaker occupation: |
Businessman; Engineer
|
| Age at speaking: |
71
|
| Document date: |
1984
|
| Interviewer: |
Paese, Christian G.
|
| Organizations discussed: |
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA; General Electric Company, Fairfield, CT; U.S. Air Force
|
| Locations discussed: |
North America; United States; Utah
|
| Topics discussed - ASP terms: |
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA; Consolidation and merger of corporations; Electric engineering; Electron optics; Engineering; Entrepreneurship; Falcon (Missile); General Electric Company, Fairfield, CT; Intercontinental ballistic missiles; Jet propulsion; Microwaves; North America; Nuclear weapons; Oral history; Rocketry; U.S. Air Force; United States; Utah; Utah--Description and travel
|
| Topics discussed - Other terms: |
Hughes Aircraft; Ramo, Simon, 1913-; Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation; Ramo-Wooldridge-Thompson
|
| ASP release: |
2005-06
|
| Document code: |
OHI0021100-16539
|
