Nat'l Medal of Technology to Edwards, Lundy, Orr, Tollestrup
Fermilab's Tevatron continues to attract accolades as one of the premier technological accomplishments of its time. At a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on the afternoon of October 18, 1989, President George Bush presented the 1989 National Medal of Technology to Helen T. Edwards, Richard A. Lundy, J. Richie Orr, and Alvin V. Tollestrup for their work in the design, construction, and initial operation of Fermilab's Tevatron accelerator.
The National Medal of Technology (NMT) recognizes "those individuals or companies that have made exceptional contributions to the well-being of the nation through the development or application of technology." NMT winners are selected by the President based on the recommendation of the National Medal of Technology Evaluation Committee, appointed by Secretary of Commerce Robert A. Mosbacher and currently chaired by Robert White, President of the National Academy of Engineering.
J. Richie Orr, now Fermilab's Associate Director for Administration, was Project Manager for the Tevatron. From project start in 1979 until first acceleration of 512-GeV protons in 1983, and on through the improvement phase in 1986, Orr led the approximately 700 scientists, engineers, and technicians through the concurrent development and construction phases.
Helen Edwards, currently Head of the Accelerator Division at the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory, served as Deputy Project Manager on the Tevatron. She is credited with providing "the basic intellectual talent required to design" the Tevatron. She specified the magnet acceptance parameters, and supervised some 100 physicists and engineers in the design of the accelerator lattice, the high-power rf acceleration, the state-of-the-art computer controls, the beam diagnostics, and the technique for extracting and distributing accelerated protons.
Alvin Tollestrup, who is at present co-spokesman of the Collider Detector at Fermilab experiment, was Manager of Research and Development for the Tevatron's superconducting magnets. He is credited with providing "particularly in the early stages of the effort... the intellectual stimulation, vision, enthusiasm, and expertise so crucial to the instigation of this ambitious project."
Richard Lundy, formerly Fermilab's Associate Director for Technology and now residing in White Salmon, Washington, where he is self-employed, served as Manager of the Magnet Assembly Facility for the Tevatron. He "provided the necessary 'practical' point of view which was essential to converting the many accelerator concepts into functioning hardware. He supervised all the engineering, tooling, testing, quality assurance, and documentation of the superconducting magnet components."
These awards represent the first NMT winners associated with a national laboratory.