GA (Series) (San Diego, Calif.)

Institutional History

Abstract

Founded in 1955 as a division of General Dynamics, General Atomics (GA) and its affiliated companies is one of th eworld's leading resources for high-technology systems. It's original charter was to explore peaceful use of atomic energy and now carries out the largest nuclear fusion program in private industry. It also works in areas such as unmanned aerial vehicles, uranium mining, superconducting magnets, magnetic levitation systems, medical diagnostic products, and information technology.

Important Dates

1955 – 1970Edward Cruetz was on staff.

July 1955General Dynamics creates the General Atomic Division for research and development in the peaceful use of atomic energy, San Diego (Calif.).

1956 – 1960Marshall Rosenbluth was on staff.

1956 – 1967Robert Duffield was on staff.

1956 – 1967Norman Rostoker was on staff.

1957 – 1962Donald Kerst was on staff.

1957 – 1969John Malmberg was on staff.

May 1957GA and the Texas Atomic Energy Research Foundation begin a research program in controlled fusion.

September 1958A TRIGA research reactor, sponsored by the US Atomic Energy Commission is operated at the Geneva Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy.

1965 – 1967Thomas O'Neil was on staff.

February 1971Introduces Pyrolite medical carbon for artificial heart valves.

1979 – 1985Harold Agnew was on staff.

1982 – 2007John Greene was on staff.

April 1989Applied SuperConetics celebrates production of the 100th commercial superconducting magnet for medical resonance imaging.

Places

Headquarters

San Diego (Calif.)

Subjects

Atomic and molecular physics.

Medical physics.

Nuclear energy.

Nuclear fusion.

Physical laboratories.

Physics -- Industrial applications.

Physics -- Industrial applications.

Superconducting magnets

Citations

Historical information from History of General Atomics webpage (http://www.ga.com/history).

Relationships

People

Employees & Officers

Agnew, Harold M.

President.

Creutz, E.

Vice President of Research and Director, John Jay Hopkins Laboratory of Pure and Applied Science.

Datz, Sheldon

Consultant.

Duffield, Robert B.

Assistant Director, John Jay Hopkins Laboratory of Pure and Applied Science.

Greene, J. M. (John M.), 1928-

Senior Technical Adviser.

Kerst, Donald William, 1911-1993

Researcher, John Jay Hopkins Laboratory for Pure and Applied Science.

Kohn, Walter, 1923-2016

Consultant.

Malmberg, J. H.

Researcher in Plasma Physics.

O'Neil, T. M. (Thomas Michael), 1940-

Research Physicist.

Rosenbluth, M. N.

Senior Research Advisor.

Rostoker, Norman

Research Staff Member and Manager, Fusion and Plasma Physics Projects.

Associates & Members

Cohen, Bernard Leonard, 1924-

Consultant.

Courant, Ernest D. (Ernest David), 1920-

Consultant.

Dyson, Freeman J.

Gerjuoy, Edward

Hill, A. G. (Albert Gordon), 1910-1996

Ohkawa, Tihiro

Seitz, Frederick, 1911-2008

Snodgrass, James M. (James Marion)

Taylor, Theodore B., 1925-

Waltz, Ronald E.

Institutions

Institutional Hierarchy

General Dynamics Corporation.

Created the General Atomic Division in 1955.

Collaborators

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission

Collaborated on the TRIGA research reactor.

Associates

American Institute of Physics

Corporate Associate.

American Institute of Physics. Center for History of Physics

Participated in the history of physicists in industry project.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

AIP Physics Programs Division records of Lewis Slack, 1968-1988.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

A History of Physics in Industry [sound recording], 2013 March 20.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Albert G. Hill papers, 1943-1981.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

American Institute of Physics Center for History of Physics, History of Physicists in Industry records, 2003-2008.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Frederick Seitz papers, 1935-1965.

University Archives

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

1408 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

James M. Snodgrass papers, 1945-1975 (bulk 1960-1970).

Mandeville Special Collections Library

University of California, San Diego

9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA

Oral history interview with Edward Creutz, 2006 January 9 and 10.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Edward Gerjuoy, 2012 April 1, October 7, and 2013 April 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Freeman J. Dyson, 1986 December 17.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Harold M. Agnew, 2006 May 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral History interview with Marshall Rosenbluth, 2003 August 11 and 16.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Ronald E. Waltz, 2006 May 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Theodore Brewster Taylor, 1989 April 12.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Tihiro Ohkawa, 2006 May 23.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA