David Leonard Meginnity ’58

Dave died in his sleep on May 26, 2000, in LA. A Detroit native, he entered Princeton from Choate. At Princeton, he majored in electrical engineering, and, in his spare time, made the electrons behave at WPRB. After graduation, he spent the summer working on developing an interface to help mere mortals communicate with the Von Neumann machine, an early computer, at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. Dave then went to the U. of Pennsylvania for his master's.

Dave spent his entire career with TRW. During the 1960s, he worked on the Apollo program, developing the lunar module guidance software that contributed to the safe return of the Apollo 13 astronauts. He held positions of increasing responsibility at TRW, including the presidency of a Colorado division.

Dave pursued sailing with excellence, winning the Transpac race to Hawaii. Dave assembled a magnificent collection of Latin American art, which will go to Princeton.

To his sister, Emily Seydel, and family, the class extends its deepest sympathy.

The Class of 1958