HIGHLIGHTS ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | MAY/JUNE 2025 54 IN MEMORIAM William Ray Lucas, FASM, 102, died on February 10 at his home in Huntsville, Alabama. He was born on March 1, 1922, in Newbern, Tennessee. He graduated from Newbern High School in 1939 and earned a B.S. in 1943 from Memphis State College (now University of Memphis). Lucas enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943, graduated from the Navy Supply Corps School at Harvard University, and served as a Supply Corps Officer in the U.S., the Caribbean, and the Pacific theater during World War II. He earned a Ph.D. in chemistry and metallurgy from Vanderbilt University in 1952 and began his career at Redstone Arsenal in the Guided Missile Development Division under the direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun. In 1960, Lucas became a charter member of the newly established Marshall Space Flight Center of NASA. He held several positions there including serving as its director from 1974 until his retirement in 1986. His career extended from the early days of the U.S. rocket program through the foundation of the International Space Station. Lucas was elected to the National Academy of Engineering and the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame. In 2009, he received the Dr. Wernher von Braun Space Flight Trophy from the National Space Club. Edward John Oles, of Ligonier, Pennsylvania, passed away on January 31 at the age of 83. Born in Baltimore, Oles earned his Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Pittsburgh while working at U. S. Steel Research Lab. He completed his research career after 25 years at Kennametal Inc. with 24 patents. Oles advocated for removing asbestos in a safe way while on the Ligonier Valley School Board and for protecting air and water quality while serving as president of Citizens to Preserve Ligonier Valley. He was a member of the ASM Pittsburgh Chapter. Frederick S. Pettit, FASM, 94, of Wallingford, Connecticut, passed away February 25. Born on March 10, 1930, in Nuangola, Pennsylvania, Pettit attended Yale University. After graduating, he worked for Westinghouse on the Mark I project before serving as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He later earned a Ph.D. from Yale, followed by a postdoctoral position at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, where he worked alongside Carl Wagner, a father of solid-state chemistry. Upon returning to the U.S., he joined Pratt & Whitney as a research scientist. His academic career culminated when he became a professor and the Harry S. Tack Chair in the department of materials science and engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He retired as a professor emeritus and relocated to Connecticut. In retirement, Pettit continued teaching graduate classes in thermodynamics at the University of Connecticut well into his eighties. James “Jim” Amos Snide, age 87, of Kettering Ohio, died on March 19. He was born September 24, 1937, in Crooksville, Ohio. He graduated from Linden McKinley High School in Columbus in 1955 and received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio University. Snide served in the United States Air Force for 20 years, retiring as a Lt. Colonel. He obtained his master’s degree in metallurgical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in materials engineering. Snide taught at the Air Force Academy in the department of engineering mechanics. He spent many productive years as a professor and research scientist at the Air Force Materials Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Upon retirement from military service, Snide embarked on another 20+ years career as a University of Dayton professor in the engineering department. He served in many capacities including as advisor/professor emeritus to the first women’s engineering sorority—Sigma Tau Epsilon. Oles Lucas Pettit Snide IN MEMORIAM
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