Scholarship awarded in memory of Artic Submarine Pioneer
On Friday 22 April 2005, at the Arctic Submarine Laboratory, Alexandra Lampert, an undergraduate physics student at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), was presented a scholarship honoring the memory of Dr. Waldo Lyon, a long-time employee of the Navy generally regarded as the “Father of the Submarine Arctic Warfare Program.”
Alan Hayashida, Alexandra Lampert, looking on are VADM John Nicholson (CO, USS SARGO 1960) and Lory Walls (Dr. Lyon's daughter)
See more pictures from the2005 Scholarship Award Ceremony
For 55 years, Dr. Lyon spearheaded the Navy’s efforts to learn more about operating ships in the Arctic, and personally directed more than two dozen cruises involving both submarines and icebreakers. Dr. Lyon twice received the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, the highest award that the Secretary of the Navy can award to a civilian employee. He also received the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service (from John F. Kennedy), the Gold Medal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, the Silver Century Medal of Le Societe de Geographie (Paris), the Bronze Medal of the Royal Institute of Navigation (London), the Bushnell Medal of the American Defense Preparedness Association, the Lowell Thomas Medal of the Explorer’s Club of New York, two Presidential Unit Citations, and 10 Navy Unit Commendations.
Dr. Lyon passed away on May 5, 1998 at the age of 84,and in memory of his work, the Dr. Waldo Lyon Scholarship Fund in Physics was created to support a scholarship for a UCLA undergraduate or graduate student majoring in physics. To give to this scholarship, please select the fund from
Biography
Dr. Waldo Kampmeier Lyon received his doctorate in physics from UCLA in 1941. Shortly thereafter, he joined the newly-founded Navy Radio and Sound Laboratory in San Diego, embarking on a government service career that would eventually span 55 years. At NRSL, which is now the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Dr. Lyon was charged with forming and directing the initial efforts of the Sound Division, and during World War II worked on testing, repairing, and modifying submarine equipment and harbor defense systems in the Pacific. During this time, he worked with a young Naval officer, Lieutenant (junior grade) Roger Revelle, who would go on to become the long-time director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and one of the “founding fathers” of both the Office of Naval Research and the University of California San Diego. . . . . . BIOGRAPHY CONTINUED
A young Dr. Waldo Lyon
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Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award
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President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service
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Gold Medal of the American Society of Naval Engineers
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Silver Century Medal of Societe de Geographie (Paris)
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Bronze Medal of the Royal Institute of Navigation (London)
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Bushnell Medal of the American Defense Preparedness Association
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Lowell Thomas Medal of the Explorer’s Club of New York
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Two Presidential Unit Citations, and
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10 Navy Unit Commendations.
Dr. Lyon passed away on May 5, 1998 at the age of 84. In a fitting final tribute, his ashes were scattered at the North Pole by the “Sturgeon” class submarine, USS Hawkbill. Just prior to his death, he collaborated with Professor William Leary of the University of Georgia on a book detailing development of the submarine Arctic warfare program. Under Ice: Waldo Lyon and the Development of the Arctic Submarine was published by the Texas A&M press in 1998.
Contribute to the Dr. Lyon Scholarship Fund
Individuals or organizations desiring to contribute to the Dr. Lyon Scholarship Fund may send their tax-deductible donations online at: https://giving.ucla.edu/Standard/NetDonate.aspx?SiteNum=62For information about donations, please contact
Steve Ramirez, Director of Development
Division of Physical Sciences
UCLA College Development Department
1309 Murphy Hall
Box 951413
Los Angeles, California 90095-1413(310) 794-9045
sramirez@support.ucla.edu
Additional information on the Arctic Submarine Laboratory and Dr. Waldo Lyon, including this scholarship, are available on ASL’s website: http://www.csp.navy.mil/asl.