Link: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/magazine/physicstoday/news/10.1063/PT.4.2598
John Landis
John William Landis, 95, died on Saturday, March 16, 2013, at the Virginia Veterans Care Center in Roanoke, Virginia. He played many roles in the history of the US fusion energy program. As President of Gulf General Atomic (1971-1975), he oversaw the emergence of a strong fusion program there that led to the construction of the Doublet (now DIII-D) facility. While a Senior Vice President and a Director of Stone and Webster Engineering Company (1975- 1993) he provided much advice and support to the US fusion effort. For example, he served on Congressman Mike McCormacks’ Fusion Advisory Committee that led to the passage of the Magnetic Fusion Energy Engineering Act of 1980. Stone and Webster became an early institutional member of Fusion Power Associates (FPA) and John served on the FPA Board of Directors for many years. He was a member of the Department of Energy’s Fusion Policy Advisory Committee (FPAC) and served on the US ITER Industry Advisory Committee. He was a recipient of Fusion Power Associates Distinguished Career Award in 1991. John was raised in Phillipsburg, New Jersey and graduated valedictorian of his class at Phillipsburg High School in 1935. He won a scholarship to Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, where, in 1939, he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in engineering physics. He served as a Navy Ordnance Officer during the Second World War. During the Normandy Invasion, he worked on constructing the artificial harbor at Omaha Beach. When he later learned of the devastation caused by the nuclear bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he began to consider a career in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. John’s 50-year career in the nuclear industry started in 1950 when he began working for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D.C. He participated in developing the rudimentary ground rules for the design of nuclear power plants. He oversaw some of the first research projects on nuclear energy and prepared material for some of the earliest courses in reactor technology. In 1953 John joined the Atomic Energy Division of the Babcock & Wilcox Company. In 1955 he was put in charge of the Division’s operations in Lynchburg, Virginia: the world’s first privately owned center for nuclear research, development, and testing. In 1961 John was named Manager of the Atomic Energy Division. While at Babcock & Wilcox, he oversaw the design of the reactor for the first civilian nuclear ship, the N.S. Savannah. He also contributed to the inception and design of the nuclear power station at Indian Point, New York; the first built in the U.S. without government subsidy.
In 1968 John started work at Gulf General Atomic Company in San Diego, California and, in 1971, he was made President of the company. While at Gulf General Atomic, he oversaw the design and testing of commercial hightemperature gas-cooled reactors. He also promoted the development of specialized reactors for space applications and the continuation of research on nuclear fusion as a possible source of power. From 1975 until his retirement in 1993, John was a Senior Vice President and a Director of Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation in Boston, Massachusetts. He negotiated partnerships with foreign corporations and obtained both international and U.S. government contracts. He was named President of Stone & Webster International Corporation and eight other subsidiary companies that he established in Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina. During his long career, John participated in many professional, technical, scientific, environmental, academic, and corporate organizations. He served on more than 30 government commissions, boards, and panels and on many international committees. He was a founder and later President of the American Nuclear Society, remaining an active committee member well into his 90’s. From age 81 to age 89, John was president of an international association charged with selecting from proposed multi-billion-dollar macro-engineering projects those that would best benefit humanity and maintain world peace. John has given over 350 scheduled addresses and written more than 160 papers. In 1996 he was named an 'international nuclear statesman' when he received the American Nuclear Society’s Henry DeWolf Smyth Award. The Society honored him again in 2010 with the Alvin Weinberg award for his pioneering role and his dedicated leadership in the nuclear industry. A memorial service in Pennsylvania is planned for a later date. Donations in John’s memory may be made to Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Landis was a strong supporter of Go Nuclear from 2010 through 2012.