Robert Everett Receives Fubini Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

BEDFORD, Mass., and MCLEAN, Va., January 28 , 2009 — The MITRE Corporation is pleased to announce that former company president and chief executive officer Mr. Robert R. Everett was recently named the winner of the 2008 Eugene G. Fubini Award for outstanding contributions to the Department of Defense (DoD). Everett, an honorary member of MITRE's Board of Trustees, the company's first technical director, and president and CEO from 1969 to 1986, accepted the honor from Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England at the Pentagon late last fall.

The Fubini Award was established in 1996 by then-Secretary of Defense William Perry to recognize annually an individual from the private sector who has made significant contributions to the mission of the DoD. Awardees are recognized for innovations to help meet the needs of warfighters and peacekeepers and for their advice and counsel on issues of major importance to the Secretary of Defense and the DoD.

As associate director of MIT's Digital Computer Laboratory in the mid-1940s, Everett and director Jay W. Forrester led Project Whirlwind, which resulted in the first digital computer. The Whirlwind computer's groundbreaking design laid the foundation for simulation and real-time technology and formed the basis for the U.S. Air Force's Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense system, the development of which was assigned to MIT's Lincoln Laboratory and later transitioned to MITRE.

From 1956 to 1958, Everett oversaw SAGE design and testing and directed Lincoln Laboratory's data processing research and development. He became MITRE's technical director in July 1958. MITRE was then a newly established not-for-profit corporation formed to provide the Air Force with ongoing systems engineering support for North America's air defense.

"Bob's pioneering work on the Whirlwind computer and his leadership of SAGE revolutionized the nation's air defense and advanced the use of technology to safeguard our country and those who fight on its behalf," said MITRE president and CEO Alfred Grasso. "His legacy motivates all of us at MITRE to proudly carry on the tradition of serving in the public interest."

Everett has served as a member of many advisory boards throughout his long and distinguished career, including the Defense Science Board, the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, the Ballistic Missile Advisory Board, and the Army Science Board. He has also served on numerous other government boards and committees, including the Federal Aviation Administration's Research Engineering and Development Committee and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Advisory Board.

The MITRE Corporation (www.mitre.org) is a not-for-profit national resource that provides systems engineering, research and development, and information technology support to the government. It operates federally funded research and development centers for the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Veterans Affairs, with principal locations in Bedford, Mass., and McLean, Va.

Solutions That Make a Difference.®
Copyright © 1997-2013, The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
MITRE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.
Material on this site may be copied and distributed with permission only.

Privacy Policy | Contact Us