Eugene McDermott

Eugene McDermott (1899-1973) was a geophysicist and co-founder of first of Geophysical Service and later of Texas Instruments.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, he graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1919 with an M. E. degree. He received a masters in physics from Columbia University. His early work in petroleum exploration led to multiple papers and five patents. In 1930 McDermott and Dr. J. Clarence Karcher founded Geophysical Service, a pioneering provider of seismic exploration services to the petroleum industry. During the first year of operation McDermott hired Cecil H. Green. These two would have a lasting relationship for the next 43 years. [ [http://www.mssu.edu/seg-vm/bio_eugene_mcdermott.html Society of Exploration Geophysicists - Biographies: Eugene McDermott] ] In 1939 the company reorganized as Coronado Corp., an oil company with Geophysical Service Inc (GSI), now as a subsidiary. On December 6, 1941, McDermott along with three other GSI employees, J. Erik Jonsson, Cecil H. Green, and H.B. Peacock purchased GSI, During World War II, GSI built electronics for the U.S. Army Signal Corps and the U.S. Navy. After the war GSI continued to produce electronics. The rugged nature of equipment for the oil industry and of military equipment were similar and thus continued expansion into military contracts was a natural progression. In November 1945 Patrick E. Haggerty joined GSI.

In 1951 McDermott, along with Cecil Howard Green, Patrick E. Haggerty, and J. E. Jonsson co-founded Texas Instruments. This was done when the company changed its name to Texas Instruments; GSI becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the new company. This acknowledged that the company had changed it focus from one primarily devoted to oil exploration to one focused on manufacturing. McDermott was the Chairman of TI from 1951-1957, was Chairman of the Executive Committee of Board of Directors from 1957-1964 and was a Director until his death in 1973. During this period of time, Texas Instruments rose to be one of the world's largest corporations.

A scientist and businessman, he was particularly interested in improving education, which he called "biological humanics." Along with Cecil Green, he was a co-founder of St. Mark's School of Texas in 1950; their endowment included the donation of a planetarium, observatory, and math-science quadrangle. He was also a major donor to many universities and served on the boards of SMU, MIT, and Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He also co-founded the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest in 1961, which became the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) in 1969. He was actively involved in the arts, serving not only on the Boards of the Dallas Library, The Dallas Museum of Art, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, but also helping conceive of the Margo Jones Theatre, an early experiment in theatre-in-the-round. [ [http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/MM/fmc40.html Handbook of Texas Online - MCDERMOTT, EUGENE ] ]

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