John Wistar Simpson (25 September 1914 – January 4, 2007) was an electrical engineer, who made significant contributions to the development of the nuclear energy.

Biography

He was born in 1914 in

Glenn Springs, South Carolina Glenn Springs is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States located at a spring (hydrosphere), spring. It was first ...

. He joined Westinghouse in 1937 and, earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

in 1941. He was a close associate of Adm.

Hyman G. Rickover Hyman G. Rickover (January 27, 1900 – July 8, 1986) was an admiral in the U.S. Navy. He directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and controlled its operations for three decades as director of the U.S. Naval Reactors offic ...

, known as the father of the nuclear Navy. Simpson took a two-year leave of absence from Westinghouse in 1946 to work at

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered, managed, and operated by UT–Battelle as a federally funded research and ...

where they applied nuclear energy to the generation of power. When he returned to Westinghouse he became responsible for research and development of nuclear energy generation at the

Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory is a U.S. Government-owned research and development facility in the Pittsburgh suburb of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, that works exclusively on the design and development of nuclear power for the U.S. Navy. It was one ...

. He was deeply involved in the design and construction of the first submarine atomic power plant in the USS ''Nautilus'' (SSN-571). In the late 1950s, he organized the

Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory The Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory (WANL) was a division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Established in 1959 to develop nuclear space propulsion technologies for the government, the lab was located, for most of its history, in the pa ...

, with a federal contract to build a

nuclear thermal rocket A nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) is a type of thermal rocket where the heat from a nuclear reaction, often nuclear fission, replaces the chemical energy of the propellants in a chemical rocket. In an NTR, a working fluid, usually liquid hydro ...

. It was successfully tested, but sidelined by NASA’s

Gemini program Project Gemini () was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, Gemini started in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and 16 individual ...

. He was elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

in April, 1966. He was awarded the

IEEE Edison Medal The IEEE Edison Medal is presented by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering, or the electrical arts." It is the oldest medal in this fi ...

in 1971 "For sustained contributions to society through the development and engineering design of nuclear power systems." Simpson received in 1982 the Walter H. Zinn Award from the

American Nuclear Society The American Nuclear Society (ANS) is an international, not-for-profit organization of scientists, engineers, and industry professionals that promote the field of nuclear engineering and related disciplines. ANS is composed of three communities ...

. He also was a Fellow of the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

, and a member of the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

, the

Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineering A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societi ...

and the

Atomic Industrial Forum The Atomic Industrial Forum (AIF) was an industrial policy organization for the commercial development of nuclear power and energy. History 1950s The Atomic Industrial Forum history dates to Autumn 1952, when it was being first organized: In re ...

. Simpson was the author of several nonfiction books including ''Nuclear Power from Underseas to Outer Space''. "The author is grateful to John W. Simpson and to the American Nuclear Society for permission to reprint excerpts from Nuclear Power from Undersea to Outer Space by John W. Simpson, copyright 1995 by the American Nuclear Society, La Grange Park, Illinois." He died on January 4, 2007, in

Hilton Head Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southwest of Charleston. The island is ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, John W. 1914 births 2007 deaths American electrical engineers Swanson School of Engineering alumni Fellow Members of the IEEE Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering IEEE Edison Medal recipients 20th-century American engineers