Education in Physics from the California Institute of Technology and the University of California. Elms worked at a number of aircraft corporations, including Consolidated Vultee, North American, and Martin before becoming Deputy Director of the Manned Spacecraft Center, NASA at Texas. Until the 1970s, Elms held a variety of administrative positions in the Space agencies, including the position of Deputy Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, NASA Headquarters. After his stint at NASA Elms became Director of the Electronics Research Center and the Transportation Systems Center, US Department of Transportation.