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Donald A. Quarles

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Donald Quarles
7th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
In office
May 1, 1957 – May 8, 1959
PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byReuben B. Robertson Jr.
Succeeded byThomas S. Gates
4th United States Secretary of the Air Force
In office
August 15, 1955 – April 30, 1957
PresidentDwight Eisenhower
Preceded byHarold E. Talbott
Succeeded byJames H. Douglas Jr.
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
In office
September 1, 1953 – August 14, 1955
PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byWalter Whitman
Succeeded byClifford C. Furnas
Personal details
Born(1894-07-30)July 30, 1894
Van Buren, Arkansas, U.S.
DiedMay 8, 1959(1959-05-08) (aged 64)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationUniversity of Missouri
Yale University (BA)
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1917–1919
RankCaptain

Donald Aubrey Quarles (July 30, 1894 – May 8, 1959) was a communications engineer, senior level executive with Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western Electric, and a top official in the United States Department of Defense during the Eisenhower Administration. He served as both Secretary of the Air Force and Deputy Secretary of Defense.

Early years

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Born on July 30, 1894 in Van Buren, Arkansas, he graduated from Van Buren High School in 1910 at age 15. He taught mathematics in Van Buren High School, and attended summer school at University of Missouri until he was accepted into Yale University in 1912. He graduated from Yale with a bachelor of arts degree in 1916.[1][2]

In May 1917, Quarles enlisted in the United States Army for service during World War I. He was a member of the 42nd Infantry Division (better known as the "Rainbow Division"). As an artillery officer, Quarles attained the rank of captain and served in France and Germany for two years.[1][2]

Laboratory engineer

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After the war, Quarles went to work at Western Electric Company. During this time, he also studied theoretical physics at Columbia University on a part-time basis.[3] In 1925, he joined Bell Telephone Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey. Through the 1930s and early 1940s, Quarles continued to advance within the Bell Labs organization.[1]

In 1940, he was selected as director of the Transmission Development Department which concentrated on military electronic systems, particularly radar development. He became director of Bell’s Apparatus Development in 1946. He was elected Mayor of Englewood, New Jersey, in 1946 to 1948.[4][5] He then was vice president of Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1948. During this time, he was appointed to the new Committee on Electronics within the Department of Defense’s Joint Research and Development Board, becoming chairman of the Committee on Electronics in 1949. In March 1952, Quarles became vice president of Western Electric and president of Sandia Corporation. Sandia was a subsidiary company of Western Electric responsible for operating the Atomic Energy Commission’s Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[1] Quarles was president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers from 1952 to 1953.[4]

Public service

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In September 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Quarles Assistant Secretary of Defense for research and development. Subsequently, he was jointly selected by both the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Commerce to be the chairman of the Air Navigation Development Board. In March 1954, President Eisenhower appointed Quarles to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.[2]

On August 11, 1955, President Eisenhower appointed Quarles as interim Secretary of the Air Force, and he was sworn into office August 15, 1955. The United States Senate confirmed his appointment on February 16, 1956. As Secretary, Quarles stressed the need to use cutting edge technology to maintain military superiority over the Soviet Union. He supported expanded funding for research and development programs, and pressed for rapid fielding of B-52 Stratofortress, F-102 Delta Dagger, and F-104 Starfighter aircraft.[1][2]

He resigned as Secretary of the Air Force on April 30, 1957, to accept a new Presidential appointment as Deputy Secretary of Defense. He remained in that position until his sudden death from a heart attack in Washington, D.C., on May 8, 1959.[2]

Funeral

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Donald Quarles' funeral procession at Arlington National Cemetery

Quarles was given a special military funeral arranged by Military District of Washington. Beginning at noon on May 11, 1959, his casket lay in the Bethlehem Chapel at the Washington National Cathedral for twenty-four hours. The funeral service was held in the nave of the cathedral the next day. Following the service, a hearse carried his casket to the Memorial Gate at Arlington National Cemetery where the casket was transferred to a caisson. A military escort, consisting of one platoon each from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard lead the funeral procession to the grave site. Vice President Richard M. Nixon led the official party at public funeral service and Arlington procession, and President Eisenhower attended the graveside rites.[6]

Legacy

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He was posthumously awarded the United States' Medal of Freedom in 1959.[2][7] In 1966, a mountain range in Antarctica was named after Quarles. The Quarles Range was named at the outset of the International Geophysical Year and organization of U.S. activity in Antarctica.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e United States Air Force senior executive biography, "Donald A. Quarles" Archived February 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Air Force Link, Air Force History Support Office, Washington, D.C., February 14, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e f United States Air Force, "Donald A. Quarles" Archived April 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Air Force Link, Air Force History Office, Washington, D.C., February 14, 2008.
  3. ^ "Biography of Donald A. Quarles" (PDF). Air Force Historical Research Agency. May 11, 1956. pp. 16–18. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Donald A. Quarles". IEEE Global History Network. IEEE. Retrieved August 9, 2011. Active in civic affairs in Englewood, Mr. Quarles has served as a member and then president of the Common Council from 1940 to 1946, and as mayor from 1946 to 1948. ...
  5. ^ "D. A. Quarles" (PDF). Bell Laboratories Record. March 1, 1952. Retrieved October 31, 2011. ... He was previously a resident and at one time, mayor of Englewood, New Jersey.
  6. ^ Also see: Burial Detail: Quarles, Donald Aubrey (Section 2, Grave 4969-G), ANCExplorer.army.mil. Accessed March 13, 2024.
  7. ^ "Quarles, Donald A., papers 1950–59", Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas, July 1975.
  8. ^ "Quarles Range". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
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Political offices
Preceded by
Walter Whitman
 Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
1953–1955 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Secretary of the Air Force
1955–1957 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
1957–1959 		Succeeded by
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