Ivan Getting

IVAN A. GETTING was the founding President of the Aerospace Corporation and served as such from 1960 to 1977. The Corporation was founded as a nonprofit organization to provide scientific support to government. Its mission was "to aid the United States Air Force in applying the full resources of modern science and technology to the problem of achieving those continuing advances in ballistic missiles and military space systems which are basic to national security." As President, Getting led defense-related work on space launch and satellite systems including development of the Navstar navigation system.

Getting received his B.S. from MIT, and earned a Ph.D. in Astrophysics while attending Oxford University as a Graduate Rhodes Scholar. He was a Junior Fellow at Harvard University before joining MIT where he became an EE Professor in 1946, and, through various projects began a lifetime of support to the United States Military in all its three branches. For example, he was the Director of the division of fire control and Army radar at the Radiation Laboratory of MIT from 1940-45. He also worked with the Navy Department in 1956, studying submarine warfare weapons. Among the recommendations of the study group was a submarine-based, solid-propellant IRBM which formed the basis for what became the Polaris missile.

However, the bulk of his work was for the Air Force. In 1951 Getting became Vice President for Engineering and Research at Raytheon Corporation, which suggested the first three-dimensional, time-difference-of-arrival position-finding system in response to an Air Force requirement for a guidance system. It was to be used with a proposed ICBM that would achieve mobility by traveling on a railroad system. When Getting left Raytheon, this proposed technique was among the most advanced forms of navigational technology in the world, and its concepts were crucial steppingstones in the development of the Global Positioning System. Under Getting's direction, Aerospace engineers and scientists studied the use of satellites as the basis for a navigation system for vehicles moving rapidly in three dimensions, ultimately developing a concept crucial to GPS. Aerospace also worked on new ballistic missile systems, oversight of space launch systems, and the development of high-powered chemical lasers.

Getting was a founding member of what became the Scientific Advisory Board, which promoted the exchange of scientific and technical information to enhance Air Force mission performance. Often recognized for his numerous contributions, Getting has received many awards, including the President's Medal of Merit; IEEE's Pioneer Award and Founders Medal; and the 1997 Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.