Thomas C. Hall

I was admitted to ASTP at Iowa from Camp Crowder MO (Signal Corps) in May '43. The first 9 month phase labelled "engineering" was completed in Feb '44. I was then involved in a second phase which was designated "pre-med" and it too lasted 9 months. It included ASTP'ers from several campuses. It was felt at the time that the war would continue for many years, into the late '40's at least. A long-term need for medics was anticipated and planned for by the government.

Upon completion of the pre-med program at Iowa I was admitted to the U. Of Colorado medical school in Denver. While awaiting the opening of the next freshman class, for a period of several months, I was assigned to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital near Denver. I completed the first year of medical school in Sept. '45 at the close of the war, at which time I was discharged from the Army.

After considerable soul searching I decided not to continue in medicine and I resigned from pre-med school. As a civilian with the GI Bill and fellowships I pursued the physical sciences (physivs / chemistry) obtaining a B.A. (Colorado) and a Ph. D. In physical chemistry (UCLA '53).

I started my industrial career at Bell Labs (Murray Hill NJ) in 1953, doing semiconductor device and materials research. This was a particularly fortuitous place to start a carrier in solid-state science, since the transistor had just been invented there in '48 and the field was rapidly heating up.

I held positions in several semiconductor companies over the years, including one which I founded (Microsemiconductor), currently listed on NASDAQ. I retired in 1989 from Hughes Aircraft Materials & Device Laboratory after twenty years as Chief Scientist there.

Vivian, a Vassar graduate, and I have two children, Lorna Beth and Douglas Benjamin. We met at Iowa and were married six weeks later, on Oct. 28, 1944. Lorna is a member of the medical staff at the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic in San Francisco. She is married to Mark Little, an architect, and they have a daughter, Sabrina, 16. Douglas holds a Ph. D. In geology from the Univ. Of Arizona and is currently involved in software design and application in Silicon Valley. He is married to Dael Kaufman.

My wife, Vivian, a retired teacher, leads an active life in politics and the women's movement. She ran for congress in 1976 and very nearly won as a Democrat in this very Republican district in Orange County CA., a kind of victory in itself. She was the first woman ever to run for Congress in Orange County. Her collection of political, professional and personal papers is in the Univ. of California at Irvine library's Special collections.

In retirement I am pursuing a life-long interest in astronomy and a fondness for classical music. (I remember with nostalgia the "music room"in the student union at S.U.I. during ASTP days there). I also have a motorboat which we enjoy.

Both Brock Corbin and Steve Wright have my deepest appreciation and thanks for the great job they are doing in documenting the SUI-ASTP experience.