Former ASME President Allen Rhodes dies

Allen F. Rhodes, who was the 89th president of ASME, died Aug. 18 in Houston of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 82.

Rhodes, who served as ASME president in 1970–71, began his career in 1947 as assistant director of engineering at the Hughes Tool Co. He later went to the McEvoy Co., which manufactured oil field equipment, and was its president when it merged into Rockwell Manufacturing in 1963. As general manager of Rockwell's Houston plant, Rhodes organized the company's first central valve research laboratory, reorganized product control and engineering procedures, and established new product development programs.

Allen Rhodes, with his wife Carol, at an Archimedes Club reception in 2003.

Rhodes then worked as vice president of ACF Industries in New York, president of Warren Oilfield Services Co., vice president of Goldrus Marine Drilling Co., and later as a member of Silver Fox Advisors, a group of retired executives who mentor executives of small businesses. He also was an adjunct professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Houston. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1985.

Among his professional activities, Rhodes was instrumental in developing standards, including those related to safety and pollution prevention in offshore oil and gas operations. In 1990, he gave the Henry Robinson Towne Lecture, "The Engineering and Management Impact of the Global Company," and, in 2000, was a member of the Committee on Global Technologies.

Rhodes, an ASME Fellow, served as chair of the Petroleum Division and chair of the ASME Foundation. His long association with ASME began in college, when he was chair of the ASME student section at Villanova University.

Over the years, Rhodes received many honors, including ASME's Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award, the Robert Henry Thurston Award, and Honorary Membership in ASME, the Society's highest grade of membership.

 

Longtime volunteer and former ASME staff member Earl Madison

Earl L. Madison, Jr., an active ASME volunteer for nearly 50 years as well as a former ASME staff member, died Aug. 7 at his home in Smithfield, Va. He was 78.

Madison began his ASME service in the late 1950s, assuming a number of Society posts in the Eastern Virginia Section, including secretary, vice chair and chair, and later Committee on Membership representative and vice chair for ASME's Blue Ridge Region. He eventually became vice chair and then chair of the Committee on Membership before accepting a staff position in 1975 as director of ASME's Eastern Field Services office in Washington, D.C. In 1982, he was promoted to group director for all regional activities.

Before joining the ASME staff, he was employed at Newport News Shipbuilding before serving in the U.S. Army as a post engineer in France during the Korean War. After becoming a first lieutenant, he left the Army and returned to Newport News Shipbuilding as an engineer in the atomic power division. He was sent to Westinghouse in Pittsburgh for training in nuclear engineering, and later returned to Newport News as a nuclear engineer, supervisor, senior supervisor, and engineering section manager.

Although Madison retired from ASME as a staff member in 1995, he remained an active volunteer for the Society, particularly on the Old Guard Committee where he served as a committee member and chair, and Old Guard prizes chair. He was a two-time recipient of ASME's Dedicated Service Award. He became a member in 1955.

 

Paul MacCready, inventor and ASME medal winner

Scientist Paul B. MacCready, creator of the first practical human-powered flying machine for which he received two ASME awards, died Aug. 28 at his home in Pasadena, Calif. He was 81.

An aeronautical engineer, US Navy pilot, and meteorologist, MacCready came onto the world stage 30 years ago with his Gossamer Condor human-powered airplane, which was inspired by the flight of hawks. The Gossamer Condor was a single-propeller flying machine, and the propeller was powered by the pilot pedaling. The pilot steered by twisting the wingtips of the aircraft, which was constructed from balsa wood, cardboard, plastic film, and piano wire. In 1977, the Gossamer Condor, which had a 96-foot wingspan and weighed 70 pounds, won a $95,000 award offered by British industrialist Henry Kremer for the first sustained and controlled human-powered flight over a one-mile figure-eight course.

MacCready, who was also founder and chairman of AeroVironment Inc., was the winner of ASME's Ralph Coates Roe Medal in 1998. The award, established in 1972, recognizes an outstanding contribution toward a better public understanding and appreciation of the engineer's worth to contemporary society. He also received the Society's Spirit of St. Louis Medal in 1978. That medal, established in 1929, is awarded for meritorious service in the advancement of aeronautics and astronautics.

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Anderson, David N. (1941-2007), Columbia Station, Ohio. Cleveland Section. Member 1983.

Browne, William H. (1915-2007), Williamsville, N.Y. Buffalo Section. Fellow 1936.

Carlson, Joseph A. (1918-2006), Glen Ellyn, Ill. Fox Valley Section. Member 1966.

Cox, Norman S. (1931-2007), Elm Grove, Wis. Milwaukee Section. Member 1966.

Fisher, John M. (1965-2007), Versoix, Switzerland. Switzerland Section. Member 1990.

Gunter, George E. (1936-2007), Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Member 1967.

Hermansson, Ove B. (1945-2007), Kristinehamn, Sweden. Member 1986.

Hughes, Thomas F. (1920-2007), Greens Farms, Conn. Fairfield County Section. Member 1951.

Johnson, Robert M. (1919-2007), Bellevue, Wash. Western Washington Section. Member 1963.

Langberg, Edwin (1925-2007), Lumberton, N.J. Greater Trenton Section. Member 1988.

Levy, Jack B. (1919-2007), South Setauket, N.Y. Long Island Section. Fellow 1946.

Light, Oscar P. (1923-2007), Portsmouth, Va. Eastern Virginia Section. Member 1952.

Nishiguchi, Morgan (1942-2007), Carmel, Calif. Santa Clara Valley Section. Member 1974.

Oakes, Daniel (1943-2007), Gainesville, Fla. Gator Section. Member 1992.

Perkins, James T. (1935-2007), Springfield, Va. Washington D.C. Section. Member 1967.

Schochet, Bernard J. (1924-2007), Salt Lake City, Utah. Utah Section. Member 1948.

Suzuki, Kenjiro (1940-2007), Saitama, Japan. Japan Section. Member 1991.

Weindling, J. I. (1927-2007), King of Prussia, Pa. Philadelphia Section. Member 1955.

Williams, Edwin S. (1913-2007), Richmond, Va. Central Virginia Section. Member 1948.

 

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