Chester McKinney’s legacy at Applied Research Laboratories, The University of Texas

Abstract

Chester McKinney joined the ARL:UT staff as our first graduate student employee in 1946. Subsequently, he was the prime mover in establishing ARL’s high frequency acoustics program, in which he retained a strong interest throughout career. However, Chester's contributions were by no means confined to research in underwater acoustics. Chester served as ARL’s second director from 1965-80, and it was certainly the case that his efforts to establish ARL as a great laboratory were as important as anything he did. His thoughts and philosophy about how contract laboratories should operate in a university setting continue to guide ARL today. Chester believed in ARL having strong involvement in scientific research, that staff should participate in scholarly societies such as ASA and publish their work in archival journals, and that we should engage students in research. Alongside these activities, he also believed we should have strong engagement in applications, system development, and prototyping. He felt that t...