GENERAL LEW ALLEN, JR. CLASS OF 1946

Born in Florida, he was commissioned into the Army Air Corps, later the Air Force, upon graduation. He began his career piloting B-29 Super Fortresses and Convair B-36s in the Strategic Air Command’s 7th Bombardment Group at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, where he also served as an instructor and Assistant Special Weapons Officer. In 1954, he earned his Doctorate in Physics after receiving his Masters Degree in Nuclear Physics at the University of Illinois. He was then assigned to the Atomic Energy Commission at Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico as a physicist in the Test Division. From June 1957 to December 1961, he was assigned to Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, as science adviser to the Physics Division of the Air Force Special Weapons Center. In 1962, he was assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Space Technology Office in the Directorate of Research and Engineering, Washington, D.C. From 1965 to 1973, he was assigned to the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, initially in Los Angeles as Deputy Director for Advanced Plans in the Directorate of Special Projects. He moved to The Pentagon in 1968 as Deputy Director of Space Systems and in 1969 became Director. He returned to Los Angeles in September 1970 as Assistant to the Director of Special Projects and in 1971 became Director of special projects, with additional duty as Deputy Commander for Satellite Programs, Space and Missile Systems Organization. After serving as Chief of Staff, Air Force Systems Command at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, he was appointed in 1973 as Deputy to the Director of Central Intelligence in Washington, D.C. In 1973, he became Director, National Security Agency and Chief, Central Security Service at Fort George Meade, Maryland. He was the first NSA director to ever testify publicly before Congress. In 1977, he was named Commander of Air Force Systems Command. He served as the Vice Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force from April 1978 then Chief of Staff of the Air Force in July 1978. Following retirement in 1982, he became the Director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, during the Voyager Program until 1990. From 1993 to 1995, he served on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and the Intelligence Oversight Board. He received the 1999 West Point Distinguished Graduate Award. He died January 4, 2010 in Potomac Falls, Virginia.