Walker Lee Cisler (October 8, 1897 – October 18, 1994) was a noted American
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
, business executive, and a founding member of 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 of ...
.
Early life
Walker Lee Cisler was born on October 8, 1897, in
Marietta, Ohio
Marietta is a city in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Ohio, United States. It is located in southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, Ma ...
.
Cisler received a degree in
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...
from
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
in 1922.
He was elected to the
Sphinx Head Society
The Sphinx Head Society is the oldest senior honor society at Cornell University. Sphinx Head recognizes Cornell senior men and women who have demonstrated respectable strength of character on top of a dedication to leadership and service at Corn ...
during his senior year.
Career
Cisler held a variety of positions at the
Public Service Electric and Gas Company
The Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) is a publicly traded diversified energy company headquartered in Newark, New Jersey and was established in 1985 with a legacy dating back to 1903.
The company's largest subsidiary is Public Service Elec ...
in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, before being named in 1941 as chief of the Equipment Production Branch at the U.S.
War Production Board
The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the Su ...
.
In mid-1943 he became chief engineer of power plants for
Detroit Edison
DTE Electric Company (formerly The Detroit Edison Company) was founded in 1886.
DTE Electric's power generation portfolio includes renewable energy, but is primarily generated by fossil fuels. In 2021, 67.32% of electricity generated by DTE came ...
. In 1944, he was granted leave of absence after being appointed as chief of public utilities for
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force by General
Dwight Eisenhower with responsibility for rebuilding electrical power plants in Europe.
In this role, he served in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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, visited
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
, and in August 1944 entered
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
with General
Charles de Gaulle. By 1945 the French electric system was generating more power than it had before the war.
After the war, Cisler returned to
Detroit Edison
DTE Electric Company (formerly The Detroit Edison Company) was founded in 1886.
DTE Electric's power generation portfolio includes renewable energy, but is primarily generated by fossil fuels. In 2021, 67.32% of electricity generated by DTE came ...
as chief engineer, where he subsequently became executive vice president (1948), president (1951), chief executive officer (1954), and chairman of the board (1964). In 1967, Cisler became interested in supporting
Northern Michigan University
Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designated Northern a uni ...
’s business programs. As a result of this, the University renamed the school of business the "Walker L. Cisler College of Business".
He retired from Edison in 1975. He then established Overseas Advisory Associates Inc., a nonprofit to advise foreign countries on development of energy industries.
He was active in the early development of
nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...
, serving as executive secretary to the
Atomic Energy Commission's Industrial Advisory Group in 1947-1948, and first president of 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 ...
. In 1991 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: ...
established a prize in honor of his contributions to development of
fast breeder reactor
A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material than it consumes. Breeder reactors achieve this because their neutron economy is high enough to create more fissile fuel than they use, by irradiation of a fertile mater ...
s.
Cisler was a founding member of 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 of ...
, and a fellow of the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
American Institute of Management, and
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 served as president of the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers,
Engineers Joint Council, and
Edison Electric Institute
The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is an association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies.
Its members provide electricity for 220 million Americans, operate in 50 states and the District of Columbia, and directly employ ...
, and received awards from the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers,
Western Society of Engineers The Western Society of Engineers is a professional and educational organization founded in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on May 25, 1869 as the Civil Engineers' Club of the Northwest. In 1880 the club was incorporated as the Western Society of Engineers. ...
,
American Institute of Consulting Engineers,
National Society of Professional Engineers
The National Society of Professional Engineers (abbreviate as NSPE) is a professional association representing licensed professional engineers in the United States. NSPE is the recognized voice and advocate of licensed Professional Engineers repr ...
, and the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Personal life
Cisler married and had a son, but the son died at an early age after getting hit by a milk truck. His wife left him. He married Gertrude, who died in 1974. He had at least two other children, Richard Rippe and Jane Eckhardt.
In his later years, Cisler lived in
Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Cisler died on October 18, 1994, at his home in Grosse Pointe. He was buried at Media Cemetery in
Media, Pennsylvania
Media is a borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located about west of Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation with 1.6 million residents as 2020. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolita ...
.
References
National Academy of Engineering memorial tribute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cisler, Walker Lee
1897 births
1994 deaths
People from Marietta, Ohio
Cornell University College of Engineering alumni
20th-century American engineers
Founding members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
IEEE Edison Medal recipients
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Henry Laurence Gantt Medal recipients