1947-1978 The General Electric Storv Volume 4 ~all of History Plfbllcatlon A Photo History .--, .---, r--i .......,...-, THB TUB .:( TBB ~·-- > ) ON THI:illl.:; ') PATHWAYS~'· .f ') 8TBINMBTI , ,. SHOl LDERS . \ , Of ~ \ BD180N 8TBINMBTZ ', , BRA 01· GIANTS PROGRESS BRA BRA ~ .-,-, .---, r--, ON TllEilll;'. ~; "\ PATHWAYS~... , ·, ) THB SHOULDERS ~ 1 OF · BOl80N OF GIANTS I P6OGRESS ' BRA .---, r--7 r:--:, .-,,-, THB •.- :(· ,- TBB TBB ~ -.:) ) ON THF~:;-, PATHWAYS~:'.r ' THB BDl80N STBINMBTZ : \ SHOL'LDERS ., \ 1 OF : \ ) BDISOS 8TRINMBTZ • • BRA BRA m GIA~TS PROGRESS BRA BRA ~ THE ELFUN SOCIETY An organization of present and retired employees of the General Electric Company, dedicated to the encouragement of cooperation, fraternity, and good fellowship and to the betterment of the community in which they function. THE HALL OF HISTORY A multi-faceted project designed to serve as a focal center for the gathering, preservation and display of valuable historical documents and memorabalia about the people, products and places of the electrical industry, and to share this heritage with America. This publication is a joint project of the Elfun Society and the Hall of History, with all proceeds for the benefit of the Hall of History Foundation. FIRST PRINTING - FIRST EDITION COPYRIGHT 1980 NOVEMBER 1980 THE HALL OF HISTORY FOUNDATION ,~ r--, r--, .---, r-.:, . 0/IITHE{Yl·:·/· ') PATHWAYSjl.:'. ) THB TUB jl.·/) Ol\ THr.01.: > ') PATHWAYS ;. :,,.~ SHOlJI.Di RSi \. 1 OF \, BDl80N STBINMBTZ \ SHOULDERS \. OF · \. or GIP . 'TS r' PROGRESS .., BRA BRA ,., OF GIANTS ' ' PROGRESS~ .-:-:--i ~ r-:, TUB THI! [Ql•/) ON mt:~.:( '') PATHWAYS[Ql•::;, ) STBINMBTZ I \ SHOULDERS \ OF I \ BDI80N BRA ,.i OF GIANTS • PROGRESS r' BRA .....---i r--, ~ c---, ...--, ON THE. ;. /R!HWAYS ', '.(~ ) TBB • :(~ ' TBB ,.=:(·l:.:) oi-.:THF. :.":,Ji·) PATHWAYS ,:.( ·(:l, BDl80N ' STBINMBTZ SHOULDERS · ~ OF '- SHOULDERS' ' OF \ .., , BRA OF GIANTS ,-, .PROGt)ESS • BRA .., Of GIANTS ,, PROGRESS ,, .r-... fVIC-<S J:l1'tt1< 'fl I ON THE TBE nm Pt'lm!!lfil/S .ll'LDERS Bll!SO:l BTBEnmn or : Gl:\NTS ~-~C-~'.'. llM mtA nm i'IIE 0'¼ THE ,. f'f~Y~·~LU~VS THll TliB IlDl80N 8rl!Hl!ln'l'~ S!IOUDERS Ci' RIJ!801i 81Emt.m7~ RRA OF GIA>:TS f:J~00J1¼:SS ERA EM \:'c:7 ;i1 t•'!'!Wt!l~'IS Irn ON THE \ ?~'n·llU~V!'.: Otc norno,, SHOULDERS': (JV: ERA OF GIANTS_ _o:c.c PATHWAYS OF PROGRESS 1947-1978 THE GENERAL ELECTRIC STORY A Photo History Volume IV Hall of History Schenectady, New York November 1980 THR E!)l80ii BRA Tl!B BDIBON BRA Tllll TIIE PATHWAYS Bill80N 81'lllN!Hlii Of BRA BRA l"IIOGll"SS.L.-""'""" CONTENTS Page Foreword .................................................... 1 Introduction . 3 The Years- 1947-1949 .......................................... 4 Charles E. Wilson and Phillip D. Reed ............................. IO The Years- 1950-1951 ......................................... 12 More Power to Arnerica Special . 15 TheYears-1952-1955 ......................................... 16 Ralph J. Cordiner ............................................. 23 General Electric Supply Company . 24 The Years-1956-1961 ......................................... 28 Gerald L. Phillippe ............................................ 43 Electric Utilities Systems Engineering Department .................... 44 The Years - 1962-1964 ......................................... 46 Installation and Servicing the Products of Technology ................. 52 TheYears-1965-1968 ......................................... 54 Fred J. Borch . 63 The Year- 1969 . .......... 64 Ships at Sea ................................................. 67 General Electric in the Space Age . .......... 68 The Years - 1970-197 2 ........................................ 70 General Electric International . 76 Canadian General Electric Company, Ltd. 78 Reginald H. Jones . .......... 80 TheYear-1973 .................................. ........... 82 Nobel Prize to Ivar Giaever .................................... 83 100 Years of Patent Innovation . 84 The Years- 1974-1975 ........................................ 86 General Electric Credit Corporation . 90 The Years- 1976-1977 ............................. ........... 92 Utah International . 96 The Year-1978 .................................. ........... 98 Epilogue . 102 Preview of GE's 2nd Century .................................. 103 Bibliography . 108 Acknowledgernents . 109 FOREWORD In selecting material for the fourth volume of The General Electric Story, we were faced with a challenge of far greater dimensions than any encountered previously. The pre­ paration of the first three volumes involved the assembly of bits and pieces of pre­ recorded GE history into cohesive chronologies, illustrated with some of the best prints from a treasure house of some 800,000 historic photographs. In the case of Pathways of Progress, 1947-1978, there was little, if any, pre-recorded history in certain areas and no centralized collection of photographs that spanned the time period. So, for the story of the growth and diversification of the Company during the last three decades of its first century, we turned to the people who had made it all possible - the people in GE's components, and affiliates, including the organizations whose function it is to plan, market, install, service, maintain, and even finance the products of GE tech­ nology on a worldwide basis. The result was an embarrassment of riches! More than 70 organizations, worldwide, responded to our requests for contributions to Volume 4. The materials that they supplied could have filled several books of this size. Distilling these and other inputs to the proportions of this photo history carried with it the certainty that many notable events and personalities would go unmentioned, despite the best intentions of the editors and the contributors whose names are listed in the acknowledgements. For any serious omissions, we invite the contributions of our readers. Volume 4 tells the story of human achievement on many frontiers, and of outstanding leadership which directed and nurtured that achievement. It is dedicated to the General Electric men and women who will be helping to create Pathways of Progress ... for peo­ ple, in GE's second century. September, I 980 Publications Committee Schenectady, New York Hall of History Editor-in-Chief & Committee Chairman Bernard Gorowitz Associate Contributing Editors Edith M. Aliberti Herbert C. Pollock Walter C. Bloomquist John Powell Bernard M. Cain William A. Reich Stephen Fallick Edwin W. Riggs Fred F. Holub Benjamin W. Roberts Virginia M. Kelley George M. Robertson Charles Q. Lemmond John C. Rucigay Louis Navias Herbert M. Strong Adelaide B. Oppenheim George Wise I . INTRODUCTION The Jet Age, The Nuclear Age, The Computer Strategic planning, introduced by Jones, provided Age, The Space Age, The Electronics Age. These the means for the efficient allocation of resources were the terms popularly used to describe some of to foster the growth of new businesses and to en­ the most spectacular areas of technological devel­ able established businesses to compete more effec­ opment during the decades after World War II. tively. Evidence of the success of this strategic Considering the impact on society of jet air trans­ planning system was readily apparent when the portation, nuclear energy, data processing, space Company marked its 100th birthday, late in 1978. exploration, and electronics, these characteriza­ General Electric was, in fact, quite different in tions were particularly appropriate. It was also no composition and in size from what it had been on­ coincidence that General Electric scientists and en­ ly ten years earlier. gineers played a key role in the birth and continu­ ing growth of these technologies and others. In 1968, the traditional electrical equipment busi­ nesses - power systems, consumer products, in­ The commitment to push back the frontiers of dustrial and electronic equipment - provided technology had its roots in the 1878 formation of 80% of GE earnings. In 1979, they would provide the Edison Electric Light Company and in the es­ 47 % . This was not so much from any diminution tablishment of a Research Laboratory in 1900 by of their importance but from the strong growth of the first President of General Electric, Charles Cof­ other areas. Man-made materials and natural re­ fin. At the conclusion of World War II, that com­ sources, which accounted for 6 % of Company mitment was renewed by Charles E. Wilson who, earnings in 1968, would account for 27% in 1979. having successfully mobilized the Company and Services, such as credit financing, worldwide infor­ the United States to meet the needs of national mation processing, and apparatus maintenance and defense, returned from government service to re­ repair would grow from 10 % to 16 % of the Com­ direct GE in meeting the needs of a peacetime pany's income; and transportation equipment, economy. mostly in the form of aircraft engines and locomo­ tives, would more than double, from 4 % to 10 % Electronics Park in Syracuse, New York, the of earnings. Coolidge X-Ray Laboratory in Milwaukee, Wis­ consin, the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, a gi­ The shrinking of the globe wrought by improved gantic 20-acre turbine-generator facility, and a new transportation and communications and a global and larger home for the Research Laboratory in outlook in technology and in business brought Schenectady were a few of the material symbols of new opportunities for growth on an international the new post-war resurgence. A multitude of