Editing Ivan Getting

{{short description|American physicist and engineer}}
{{Refimprove|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Ivan Getting
| birth_name    = Ivan Alexander Getting
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1912|01|18}}
| birth_place   = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|2003|10|11|1912|01|18}}
| death_place   = [[Coronado, California]]
| occupation    = Physicist, Electrical Engineer
| known_for     = [[Global Positioning System]]
}}

'''Ivan Alexander Getting''' (January 18, 1912 &ndash; October 11, 2003) was an American [[physicist]] and [[electrical engineer]], credited (along with [[Roger L. Easton]] and [[Bradford Parkinson]]) with the development of the [[Global Positioning System]] (GPS). He was the co-leader (the other being [[Louis Ridenour]]) of the research group which developed the [[SCR-584]], an automatic microwave tracking fire-control system, which enabled [[M9 Gun Director]] directed [[anti-aircraft gun]]s to destroy a significant percentage of the German [[V-1 flying bomb]]s launched against [[London]] late in the [[Second World War]].<!--A figure of 95% of all V-1s fired is quoted on a website, but the figures don't match any of the detailed statistics available. On the last day on which many V-1s were fired, 104 were fired and 68 shot down by artillery. Much fewer were shot down in the early days. See New Scientist quotation-->

Getting was born on January 18, 1912 in [[New York City]] to a family of [[Slovaks|Slovak]] immigrants from [[Bytča]], [[Slovakia]] and grew up in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]].  He attended the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) as an Edison Scholar ([[Scientiæ Baccalaureus|S.B.]] Physics, 1933); and [[Merton College, Oxford]] as a Graduate [[Rhodes Scholarship|Rhodes Scholar]] (D.Phil., 1935) in [[astrophysics]].<ref name="MCreg">{{cite book|editor1-last=Levens|editor1-first=R.G.C.|title=Merton College Register 1900-1964|date=1964|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|pages=244–245}}</ref> 
 
He worked at [[Harvard University]] on nuclear instrumentation and cosmic rays (Junior Fellow, 1935–1940) and the [[MIT Radiation Laboratory]] (1940-1950; Director of the Division on Fire Control and Army Radar, Associate Professor 1945; Professor 1946). During the Second World War he was a special consultant to Secretary of War [[Henry L. Stimson]] on the Army's use of [[radar]]. He also served as head of the Naval Fire Control Section of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, member of the Combined Chiefs of Staff Committee on Searchlight and Fire Control, and head of the Radar Panel of the Research and Development Board of the Department of Defense.

In 1950, during the [[Korean War]], Getting became Assistant for Development Planning, Deputy Chief of Staff, United States Air Force; and in 1951, Vice President for Engineering and Research at the [[Raytheon Corporation]] (1951-1960).<ref name=MCreg /> While at Raytheon, Getting also served on the Undersea Warfare Committee of the [[United States National Research Council|National Research Council]].

In 1960, he was founding President of [[The Aerospace Corporation]] (1960-1977).<ref name=MCreg /> The corporation was established at the request of the Secretary of the Air Force as a non-profit organization to apply "the full resources of modern science and technology to the problem of achieving those continued advances in ballistic missiles and space systems, which are basic to national security." Getting was a founding member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Group (later renamed the Scientific Advisory Board) and chair of its Electronics Panel.  Getting retired from The Aerospace Corporation in 1977.

In 1978, he served as President of the [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Ivan_Getting |title=Ivan Getting |work=IEEE Global History Network |publisher=IEEE |access-date=10 August 2011}}</ref> He also served on the board of directors of the [[Northrop Corporation]] and the Board of Trustees of the [[Environmental Research Institute of Michigan]].

==Death==
Getting died on October 11, 2003, in [[Coronado, California]], aged 91.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

==Major technical and administrative contributions==
While at MIT Radiation Laboratory, Getting's group developed the first automatic microwave tracking fire control radar, the SCR 584.  This system, along with the [[proximity fuze]], significantly reduced damage to London by the [[V-1 flying bomb]]s (also known as "doodlebugs" or "buzz bombs") launched by Germany from June 1944 of the Second World War, by enabling accurate anti-aircraft fire to destroy the missiles. On 28 August 1944, the last day on which significant numbers of V-1s were launched against London, of 104 fired, 68 were destroyed by artillery, 16 by other means, and 16 crashed.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Buderi|first=Robert|title=The V-1 menace secret weapons that saved Britain: After five years of war, Britain was shocked when the pilot;ess V-1s breached its defences to claim thousands of lives. The only way to fight back, writes Robert Buderi, was to rush through three top-secr|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14219283-600/|access-date=2021-03-17|website=New Scientist|language=en-US}}</ref>

Getting was an early designer and proponent of satellite-based navigation systems which led to the development and deployment of the Global Positioning System (GPS). While in Raytheon he oversaw the development of the first three-dimensional, time-difference-of-arrival position-finding system – developed in response to an Air Force requirement for a guidance system to be used with a proposed [[Intercontinental Ballistic Missile]] (ICBM) that would achieve mobility by traveling on a railroad system.  While at The Aerospace Corporation he oversaw studies on the use of satellites as the basis for a navigation system for vehicles moving rapidly in three dimensions.  In addition to his technical contributions to GPS, Getting was a tireless advocate of the project in the face of early resistance from the [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]].

He was also involved in the development of the first high-speed [[Flip-flop (electronics)|flip-flop]] circuit at [[Harvard]]. He also was involved in the development of the Navy [[Mark 56 Gun Fire Control System|GFCS MK-56]] anti-aircraft fire control system; as well as in the development and building of a 350 [[megaelectronvolt|MeV]] [[synchrotron]] at [[MIT Radiation Laboratory]]. He also was involved in the development of the [[AIM-7 Sparrow|Sparrow III]] and [[MIM-23 Hawk|Hawk]] missile systems; as well as commercial production of [[transistor]]s at [[Raytheon]].

As a consultant to the US government: implementation of the Quick Reaction Capability for Electronic Counter-Measures; establishment of  the SHAPE [[Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe]] Laboratory at the Hague; deployment of U.S. air defense capability called the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) radar system; direction of studies on MX missile basing and long-range combat aircraft; technical analysis and design of a long-range supersonic bomber capable of reaching the former Soviet Union and returning without refueling (Getting's work is credited in the reinstatement of the [[B-1 Lancer|B-1 bomber]] funding by the U.S. Congress).
 
As member of the Undersea Warfare Committee of the National Research Council: Associate Director of Project Nobska sponsored by the U.S. Navy and concerning submarine warfare weapons; recommended a submarine-based, solid-propellant intermediate-range ballistic missile that formed the basis for the [[UGM-27 Polaris|Polaris]] missile.

At The Aerospace Corporation: planning for new ballistic missile systems; oversight of space launch systems; development of high-powered chemical lasers; contributions to the [[Project Mercury|Mercury]] and [[Project Gemini|Gemini]] space launch systems.

==Major awards and recognitions==
*Fellow of the [[American Physical Society]] (1941)<ref>{{cite web|title=APS Fellow Archive|website=American Physical Society|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm?initial=&year=1941&unit_id=&institution=Harvard+University}} (search on year 1941 and institution Harvard University)</ref>
*[[Medal for Merit]] awarded by the [[President of the United States]] (1948)
*Naval Ordnance Development Award
*Air Force Exceptional Service Award (1960)
*IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Pioneer Award (1975)
*[[Kitty Hawk Award]] (1975)
*[[IEEE Founders Medal]] (1989)
*Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service (1997)
*[[John Fritz Medal]] (1998)
*Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs
*[[San Diego Air & Space Museum|San Diego Aerospace Museum]]'s [[International Air & Space Hall of Fame|International Aerospace Hall of Fame]] (2002)
*Navy Superior Public Service Award (1999)
*National Academy of Engineering [[Charles Stark Draper Prize]] (with Bradford Parkinson, 2003)
*National Inventors Hall of Fame (posthumously, 2004)<ref>[http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/209.html Inventor's Hall of Fame 2004] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090315194514/http://www.invent.org/Hall_Of_Fame/209.html |date=2009-03-15 }}</ref>
*In 2011, he was listed at #10 on the [[MIT150]] list of the top 150 innovators and ideas from [[MIT]]

== References ==
<references />

==External links==
* [http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Oral-History:Ivan_A._Getting_(1995) Interview with Ivan A. Getting]
*http://www.thespacereview.com/article/626/1
*[https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14219283.600-the-v1-menace-secret-weapons-that-saved-britain-after-fiveyears-of-war-britain-was-shocked-when-the-pilotess-v1s-breached-itsdefences-to-claim-thousands-of-lives-the-only-way-to-fight-back-writesrobert-buderi-was-to-rush-through-three-topsecret-projects-.html Article in New Scientist magazine on 3 top-secret projects to defend against the V-1]
* Zabudnutý génius [https://web.archive.org/web/20090626062108/http://www.bytcan.sk/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=91]

{{Charles Stark Draper Prize}}
{{IEEE Founders Medal}}
{{The Aerospace Corporation}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Getting, Ivan}}
[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:Scientists from New York City]]
[[Category:American people of Slovak descent]]
[[Category:American Rhodes Scholars]]
[[Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Slovak inventors]]
[[Category:American electrical engineers]]
[[Category:Medal for Merit recipients]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Fellows]]
[[Category:Draper Prize winners]]
[[Category:American nonprofit chief executives]]
[[Category:Presidents of the IEEE]]
[[Category:People associated with the Global Positioning System]]
[[Category:Engineers from New York City]]
[[Category:20th-century American engineers]]
[[Category:20th-century American inventors]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:American microwave engineers]]
[[Category:American telecommunications engineers]]