Millennium Magazine_3rdEd

95 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine ENERGY, ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING A fter enlisting in the United States Naval Reserve, now the United States Navy Reserve, in 1943, Dr. John W. Lucas served to the rank of lieutenant until his honorable discharge in 1946, where he worked on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. During this time, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, receiving a BS in engineering in 1948. Thereafter, he earned an MS and PhD in engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1949 and 1953, respectively. He cites the highlight of his career to be when the director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology requested he work for the laboratory directly, and he began serving as a supervisor for the thermal research group in 1954, a position he held for 12 years. Advancing to a coordinator of research and advanced development of engineering mechanics from 1966 to 1969, he then became a manager of research in 1970, departing from the position in 1973. At the conclusion of his tenure, he served from executive assistant to director and deputy director until 1976. Dr. Lucas’ final role in his career was with Solar Thermal Parabolic Dish Technology, where he was a project manager from 1977 to 1985. To remain abreast of developments in the field, he maintained affiliation with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics as the past national vice president for technical affairs and associate fellow. He was also a member of the Institute for the Advancement of Engineering and Sigma Xi. Throughout his career, he edited numerous texts, including “Thermal Characteristics of the Moon,” “Fundamentals of Spacecraft Thermal Design” and “Heat Transfer and Spacecraft Thermal Control,” which were all published through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. As a testament to his success, Dr. Lucas earned a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship at the Fritz Haber Institute in West Berlin, Germany, from 1953 to 1954. Later on in his career, he received a Group Achievement Award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1984. He was featured in the 20th edition of Who’s Who in the West in 1985. JOHN W. LUCAS, PHD AEROSPACE ENGINEER Jet Propulsion Laboratory at California Institute of Technology San Marino, CA