Obituary of Robert Harold Anderson

Of Great Falls, VA, passed away peacefully on December 15, 2013. He was born in Chicago on September 13, 1931, to Harold Oscar Anderson and Mary Alice Sreenan Anderson. He graduated in 1949 from Charles Proteus Steinmetz High School, where he played varsity football, was senior class treasurer, was admitted to the National Honor Society, and received the American Legion Award for Outstanding Male Student. He held a bachelor's degree (with honors) in general engineering and master's and doctoral degrees in civil engineering from the University of Illinois. He prepared his PhD thesis on earthquake-resistant structures under the direction of Professors A. S. Veletsos and N. M. Newmark. As an undergraduate, he belonged to the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. In advanced ROTC, he reached the rank of Major and Battalion Commander and received the Distinguished Military Graduate Award. He was also awarded the following honorary society keys: Chi Epsilon (civil engineering), Tau Beta Pi (engineering), and Tau Nu Tau (Army engineering). After graduation from the U. of I. as a 2nd Lt. in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he served for two years in the Corps, receiving the Army Commendation Medal and promotion to 1st Lt. while stationed in Hoechst, Germany. He also received the Army of Occupation Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, and two Expert Marksmanship Medals. He served for another eight years in the U.S. Army Reserve, rising to the rank of captain. From 1956 to 1963, he held several engineering positions in Southern California—first at Hughes Aircraft Co. and later at Space Technology Laboratories (STL, later becoming TRW Systems). At STL, he headed the Structural Research and Methods group. In 1963, he cofounded Mechanics Research Inc. (MRI), a Los Angeles-based engineering consulting firm, becoming its president and chairman in 1968. As a leading technical support contractor to government and industry in engineering mechanics and energy system engineering, MRI won the U.S. Department of the Interior's prime technical support contract to provide third-party environmental surveillance of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline's design and construction. MRI also played key roles in product development for the Apollo space program; development of classified photographic satellite technology; and technical support of ocean engineering projects, including the Glomar Explorer project, financed by Howard Hughes. MRI performed many hazard evaluation studies on offshore platforms, pipelines, supertankers, and underground facilities. It also developed, patented, and sold the "Paper Tiger" and "Super Tiger" solid nuclear waste containers for safe, low-radiation waste transportation and burial. In addition, MRI developed the STARDYNE structural analysis computer programs subsequently licensed to Control Data Corp.'s Cybernet system. MRI merged with System Development Corp. (SDC) in 1972, where, in addition to his duties as MRI president, Mr. Anderson served as executive vice president of SDC Systems and—upon moving to Northern Virginia in 1976—as general manager of SDC Washington Operations. In 1978, as most of MRI was integrated into SDC, its Washington division was renamed MRJ Inc. (later acquired by PerkinElmer Inc.). In addition to serving on the MRJ board, Mr. Anderson formed R.H. Anderson & Associates to provide technical consulting, particularly on the siting of MX missile silos, to U.S. government agencies including the Defense Nuclear Agency and the Department of Defense, as well as management consulting to numerous engineering firms. He retired in 1992. Among Mr. Anderson's many organizational affiliations, he was active in the international Young Presidents Organization and served on the advisory boards of the University of Illinois College of Engineering and the National Energy Resources Organization; as chairman of the advisory board of the Engineering Research Center at California State University, Long Beach; and on subcommittees of the American Society of Civil Engineers, of which he was a life member. His professional honorary society memberships included Sigma Xi (scientific research), Phi Kappa Phi (engineering), and the American Society of Mechanics (engineering mechanics). He enjoyed golfing, swimming, traveling the world, and following sports, especially Chicago's professional teams and the "Fighting Illini." He is survived by his beloved wife of 60 years, Donna Green Anderson; daughters Mary, Linda, Shirley, and Robin; and granddaughter Una. Services are private. Memorial donations are suggested to Disabled American Veterans, www.dav.org.