Memories of George Donaldson
CPMT lost a stalwart volunteer and I lost a very good friend when George Donaldson suddenly passed away in July of this year. George was a past Chair of ECTC and a past President of CPMT. He did an outstanding job in both positions and was active in many other ways for our Society and our profession. We met George and Barbara through ECTC and, over the years, became good friends, meeting 2-3 times a year in various parts of the country.
Until 1996, we were living in Binghamton, NY, which George and Barbara would visit at least once a year to see a grandchild who lived locally. We always made arrangements to spend a few days together during their visit. One year we were in the middle of downsizing from our large five bedroom colonial to something more manageable for two semi-retired people. Since we had to meet a closing date on the house, we felt we were not going to be able to spend our usual time with the Donaldsons. This did not deter them in the least. Before we knew it, they were knee deep in boxes and paper helping us to pack and get ready to move. This went on for the better part of three days! I don’t know how we would have gotten everything done without their help.
One year we managed to spend a delightful week with them in Albuquerque and were introduced to the rugged countryside, an Indian reservation, and unique arts and crafts. We had little experience with the West, so were very appreciative of the education we received. We also learned that George is very fond of Mexican food. He had a favorite restaurant for getting nice hot food for breakfast!! Fortunately - for me - they had real food as well.
A few kears later they visited us in Nova Scotia. During WWII George had been in the U.S. Navy. At the end of the war, his ship came into Halifax harbor, where they had a delightful R&R before sailing home. George wanted to see Halifax again, and I was more than willing, not having been there myself in over 20 years. We were pleasantly surprised to find the Halifax waterfront has been turned into an esplanade with museum ships and boutiques catering to tourists. While we were walking around, a new Canadian guided missile Frigate (on her maiden cruise) sailed into the dock. We found it was going to open the following day to the public, so we stayed over-night and had a grand time assessing the electronics on this modern warship.
In 1998 - with ECTC in Seattle - we were able to spend a day with George and Barbara at their summer cabin in Washington State. They gave us a tour of some of the more scenic mountain areas in that part of the country.
This year I met with Barbara and George in Las Vegas. Fortunately George was able to be at both the ECTC and the CPMT dinners where we both received some very nice gifts recognizing past services. One afternoon, George and I went "casino crawling" - exploring the gigantic buildings and marveling at the ingenuity that went into their construction. The 110 degree heat did not seem to bother George at all - I just slowed him down!
George will live on in my memory and the memories of the CPMT Board of Governors, who have worked closely with him over the years. He made substantial contributions to our Society both in the directions we have taken and the successes we have had, and was respected by everyone who knew him.
¨ Ron Gedney
As a young engineer right out of school arriving at Sandia Laboratories in 1975, I found George Donaldson already a manager with considerable wisdom. He had finished at least one career at Sandia and was now managing groups responsible for passive components that went into nuclear weapons. He treated the design and manufacture of each cable, connector, resistor, and capacitor as extremely important. Not only did he want to make sure his components were reliable when they were needed to function, but since the U.S. had just had a few weapons drop during airplane accidents, George wanted to make sure that none of his components would result in a dangerous behavior during uncontrolled situations.
As integrated circuits became more important to Sandia’s missions, George studied the new technology and became our IC quality manager. These were tense times at our company with those in charge of meeting delivery schedules showing little tolerance for those insisting on quality and reliability. They had met their equal and George guided Sandia through this period with a spotless record. During this period Sandia Labs upper management turned against Professional Societies. They made it clear that those active in IEEE would pay at the annual review. But George had committed to office in the Society before Sandia took this counterproductive stance, and he went ahead and served well despite the consequences. Other Sandians (including myself) were not as brave and served only with great stealth.
As times changed again, George was now part of a panic team to build target missiles and trackers for the many defense companies trying to prove that their missiles could shoot down other missiles. Reliability was again the main theme so that no one could blame a failed test on the behavior of the Sandia target.
Through these many technologies, the teams that worked for
George always respected his leadership, technology insight, and
his wisdom. When he retired in the early 90s, none of us younger
engineers were prepared to fill his shoes. We missed him then
and we miss him now.
-- Dave Palmer
George comparing notes with Ron Gedney
George while he was a CPMT President...always positive about the future.
George was the first CPMT President to consistantly push for Society globalization.
After retirement George still active in CPMT but with casual dress.