Eugene McDermott
Encyclopedia
Eugene McDermott was a geophysicist and co-founder of first of Geophysical Service
and later of Texas Instruments
.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 12, 1899. He graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology
in 1919 with a mechanical engineering
degree.
. In 1923 he began employment with Western Electric Company
where he first met J. Clarence Karcher
. This experience inspired in McDermott a desire for graduate studies. Earlier Everette Lee DeGolyer
, vice president and general manager of Amerada Petroleum Corporation
of Dallas, had learned of Karcher's 1921 experiments with the seismograph and held a meeting with Karcher that resulted in the creation of Geophysical Research Corporation (GRC) of Tulsa where Karcher was made vice president. This was as a subsidiary of Amerada. McDermott received a Master of Arts
in physics
from Columbia University
in 1925 and immediately began to work for his friend Karcher. GRC introduced the seismic reflection method which was quickly accepted by the petroleum
industry as a promising new tool during the next five years.
services to the petroleum
industry with Karcher serving as president and McDermott as vice-president. McDermott's early work in petroleum exploration led to multiple papers and five patents. During the first year of operation McDermott hired Cecil H. Green. These two would have a lasting relationship for the next 43 years. In 1939 the company reorganized as Coronado Corp., an oil company with Geophysical Service Inc (GSI), now as a subsidiary. On December 6, 1941, McDermott along with three other GSI employees, J. Erik Jonsson
, Cecil H. Green, and H.B. Peacock purchased GSI, During World War II
, GSI built electronics
for the United States Army
Signal Corps and the Navy
. After the war GSI continued to produce electronics. The rugged nature of equipment for the oil industry and of military equipment were similar and thus continued expansion into military contracts was a natural progression. In November 1945 Patrick E. Haggerty
joined GSI.
. This was done when the company changed its name to Texas Instruments; GSI becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the new company. This acknowledged that the company had changed it focus from one primarily devoted to oil exploration to one focused on manufacturing. McDermott was the Chairman of TI from 1951-1957, was Chairman of the Executive Committee of Board of Directors from 1957-1964 and was a Director until his death in 1973. During this period of time, Texas Instruments rose to be one of the world's largest corporations.
in 1950; their endowment included the donation of a planetarium
, observatory
, and math-science quadrangle. He was also a major donor to many universities and served on the boards of Southern Methodist University
, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, and Southwestern Medical School
in Dallas. He also co-founded the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest in 1961, which became the University of Texas at Dallas
(UTD) in 1969. In 2001, his wife Margaret endowed the Eugene McDermott Scholars Program at the University. The couple also gifted Fredericksburg, Texas
with a home for the county's Pioneer Memorial Library by restoring the 1882 Gillespie County Courthouse. He was actively involved in the arts, serving not only on the Boards of the Dallas Public Library
, the Dallas Museum of Art
, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
, but also helping conceive of the Margo Jones Theatre, an early experiment in theatre in the round
. MIT's Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts was created in his honor in 1974.
Geophysical Service Incorporated
Geophysical Service Inc. was founded by John Clarence Karcher and Eugene McDermott in 1930 for the purpose of using refraction and reflection seismology to explore for petroleum deposits. It became one of the most successful seismic exploration contractors in the industry for many years...
and later of Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 12, 1899. He graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology is a technological university located on a campus in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA – founded in 1870 with an 1868 bequest from Edwin A. Stevens. It is known for its engineering, science, and technological management curricula.The institute has produced leading...
in 1919 with a mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
degree.
Early career
Upon graduation, McDermott began working for the Goodyear Rubber CompanyGoodyear Tire and Rubber Company
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, SUVs, race cars, airplanes, farm equipment and heavy earth-mover machinery....
. In 1923 he began employment with Western Electric Company
Western Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
where he first met J. Clarence Karcher
J. Clarence Karcher
John Clarence Karcher was an American geophysicist and businessman. He invented and eventually commercialized the reflection seismograph, applying for patents on this in 1919. In doing this he created the means by which most of the world's oil reserves have been discovered...
. This experience inspired in McDermott a desire for graduate studies. Earlier Everette Lee DeGolyer
Everette Lee DeGolyer
Everette Lee DeGolyer . was a prominent oilman, geophysicist and philanthropist in Dallas...
, vice president and general manager of Amerada Petroleum Corporation
Hess Corporation
The Hess Corporation is an integrated oil company based in New York City. The company explores, produces, transports, and refines crude oil and natural gas. Vertically completing the logistical chain, about 1,360 Hess branded filling stations market gasoline to consumers in 16 states along the...
of Dallas, had learned of Karcher's 1921 experiments with the seismograph and held a meeting with Karcher that resulted in the creation of Geophysical Research Corporation (GRC) of Tulsa where Karcher was made vice president. This was as a subsidiary of Amerada. McDermott received a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1925 and immediately began to work for his friend Karcher. GRC introduced the seismic reflection method which was quickly accepted by the petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
industry as a promising new tool during the next five years.
Geophysical Service
In 1930 with the backing of DeGolyer, now president of Amerada, Karcher and McDermott launched Geophysical Service, a pioneering provider of seismic explorationReflection seismology
Reflection seismology is a method of exploration geophysics that uses the principles of seismology to estimate the properties of the Earth's subsurface from reflected seismic waves. The method requires a controlled seismic source of energy, such as dynamite/Tovex, a specialized air gun or a...
services to the petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
industry with Karcher serving as president and McDermott as vice-president. McDermott's early work in petroleum exploration led to multiple papers and five patents. During the first year of operation McDermott hired Cecil H. Green. These two would have a lasting relationship for the next 43 years. In 1939 the company reorganized as Coronado Corp., an oil company with Geophysical Service Inc (GSI), now as a subsidiary. On December 6, 1941, McDermott along with three other GSI employees, J. Erik Jonsson
J. Erik Jonsson
John Erik Jonsson was a co-founder and former president of Texas Instruments Incorporated. A skillful businessman, he became mayor of Dallas, a major factor in the creation of DFW airport and a philanthropist in later years....
, Cecil H. Green, and H.B. Peacock purchased GSI, During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, GSI built electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
for the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
Signal Corps and the Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. After the war GSI continued to produce electronics. The rugged nature of equipment for the oil industry and of military equipment were similar and thus continued expansion into military contracts was a natural progression. In November 1945 Patrick E. Haggerty
Patrick E. Haggerty
Patrick Eugene Haggerty was an American engineer and businessman. He was a co-founder and former president and chairman of Texas Instruments, Incorporated. Haggerty is most responsible for turning a small Texas oil exploration company into the leader in semiconductors that Texas Instruments is today...
joined GSI.
Texas Instruments
In 1951 McDermott, along with Cecil Howard Green, Patrick E. Haggerty, and J. E. Jonsson co-founded Texas InstrumentsTexas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
. This was done when the company changed its name to Texas Instruments; GSI becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the new company. This acknowledged that the company had changed it focus from one primarily devoted to oil exploration to one focused on manufacturing. McDermott was the Chairman of TI from 1951-1957, was Chairman of the Executive Committee of Board of Directors from 1957-1964 and was a Director until his death in 1973. During this period of time, Texas Instruments rose to be one of the world's largest corporations.
Philanthropy
A scientist and businessman, he was particularly interested in improving education, which he called "biological humanics." Along with Cecil Green, he was a co-founder of St. Mark's School of TexasSt. Mark's School of Texas
The St. Mark's School of Texas is a nonsectarian preparatory day school for boys located in Preston Hollow, Dallas, Texas, USA. The School offers grades 1–12.-History:...
in 1950; their endowment included the donation of a planetarium
Planetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
, observatory
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
, and math-science quadrangle. He was also a major donor to many universities and served on the boards of Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, and Southwestern Medical School
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is one of the biomedical research institutions of the University of Texas System, incorporating three degree-granting institutions, four affiliated hospitals, including Parkland Memorial, the teaching hospital, and biomedical research...
in Dallas. He also co-founded the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest in 1961, which became the University of Texas at Dallas
University of Texas at Dallas
The University of Texas at Dallas, also referred to as UT Dallas or UTD, is a public research university in the University of Texas System. The main campus is in the heart of the Richardson, Texas, Telecom Corridor, north of downtown Dallas...
(UTD) in 1969. In 2001, his wife Margaret endowed the Eugene McDermott Scholars Program at the University. The couple also gifted Fredericksburg, Texas
Fredericksburg, Texas
Fredericksburg is the seat of Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census estimate, the city had a population of 10, 530...
with a home for the county's Pioneer Memorial Library by restoring the 1882 Gillespie County Courthouse. He was actively involved in the arts, serving not only on the Boards of the Dallas Public Library
Dallas Public Library
The Dallas Public Library system serves as the municipal library system of the city of Dallas, Texas .-History:In 1899, the idea to create a free public library in Dallas was conceived by the Dallas Federation of Women's Clubs, led by president Mrs. Henry Exall. She helped raise US$11,000 from...
, the Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas Museum of Art
The Dallas Museum of Art is a major art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, USA, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In 1984, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Arts District, Dallas, Texas...
, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra. It performs its concerts in the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States....
, but also helping conceive of the Margo Jones Theatre, an early experiment in theatre in the round
Theatre in the round
Theatre-in-the-round or arena theatre is any theatre space in which the audience surrounds the stage area...
. MIT's Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts was created in his honor in 1974.