Maxwell Walthour Lippitt Jr. ’50

Max Lippitt died June 6, 1998, at his home in Panama City Beach, Fla., of cancer. He was 70.

After preparing at Culver, Max majored in chemistry at Princeton and was a member of World Federalists. He withdrew in early 1948 and entered the U. of Georgia, where he earned a BS in chemistry in 1952. After a stint in the Air Force he earned a BS in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech.

In 1955 Max began his career at General Electric in steam turbine and rocket engines instrumentation. From there, he moved on to NASA Langley Research Center to help establish the first worldwide tracking range for Mercury spacecraft. Then it was on to NASA Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston where he developed biomedical and atmospheric instrumentation for Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft. In 1971 Max moved to the Ocean Simulation Facility of the Coastal System Station where he developed diver thermal protection systems. During his career, he was awarded 23 patents.

Max is survived by his daughters, Ashby Hunnicut and Peggy Masters; sons, Thomas and Maxwell III; and seven grandchildren, to whom the class offers its sincerest sympathies.

The Class of 1950