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Burlington Commission on Human Rights, 1964-1965

At Work in Industry Today Page 14

Mays...or was the more likely prospect for five or six years in minor league ballyards and a one-way ticket to obscurity?
     After working a year as an office boy and stock boy in a department store, he decided to play a season of professional baseball in Canada. The college scholarship offers had faded, and baseball seemed to be his best opportunity. It may have been, but a broken leg in mid-season cut short that career.
     Back home Mr. Kelly worked as a shipping clerk, then took a civil service examination and was hired as a file clerk at the local Veterans Administration office. After a two-year hitch in the Army that took him to Germany, he returned to the VA job and was tapped to learn to run mechanical data processing machines.
     He was restless in his government job. Running card-sorting and keypunch machines was all right, but the future seemed unpromising. He had married the year he entered the Army and his first child was born 18 months later.
    A newspaper help-wanted ad led him to the new General Electric department in Philadelphia that was working on missiles and space vehicles. The Company hired him to run data equipment and almost immediately sent him through training courses in a variety of skills related to operating data equipment.
     His training with GE led to a promotion to leader of the group that processed the department's payroll. Late in 1959 he was selected for GE-sponsored training in electric computers. It was the beginning of his present career in computer programming and business systems analysis.
     In 1960 Ron Kelly was promoted to professional (exempt) status. Today he makes almost three times the pay he received when he joined GE. He has continued to grow in his job as more sophisticated computer systems are installed at the Valley Forge Space Technology Center, where he works. He knows that, at 31, he has a substantial foothold in a field that has an excellent growth outlook.
     He regrets not having taken one of the college scholarships offered to him when he graduated from high school. But he figures that the broken leg he suffered during his try in pro baseball may have been Lady Luck in disguise. When offered a contract with a New York Giants farm team during his first year with General Electric, he turned it down. Mr. Kelly saw a future in industry as a better choice.

[photo to right]
Gilbert B.  Langford

A manager's advice to youth: know your abilities, set your goals--work to achieve them

Some military experts say that the United States' best defense against enemy attack is the Polaris missile system. Capable of being fired from submerged submarines anywhere in the world's oceans, Polaris is a potent deterrent to any would-be aggressor.
     Gilbert B. Langford is one of many Americans contributing to the development and maintenance of this exacting and complicated system. A 38-year-old professional engineer, he is Manager of Components Engineering for the General Electric Ordnance Department in Pittsfield, Mass.
     The group that he directs plays a vital role in the Ordnance Department, which produces fire control and inertial guidance equipment for the Polaris system. In his present position, he has managed from 21 to 42 employees -- including as many as 16 professional engineers--who specify, select and evaluate parts and materials for all the Department's programs. He has been responsible for annual budgets ranging from $350,000 to $500,000.
     Mr. Langford started preparing himself for a career in management a long time ago. As a teenager back in Indianapolis, he grew up in a home environment strongly oriented toward education. Both his father, now deceased, and his mother, a retired elementary school principal, encouraged Gil to identify his interests early and pursue them.
     "I fixed my sights on engineering when I entered high school," he says. "With my parents' backing and encouragement, I worked hard in high school and planned for college."
     World War II temporarily interrupted those plans. Gil Langford entered the Army in 1943 following his graduation from high school. The following year he transferred to the U.S. Air Force. By the time the war ended, he was a first lieutenant.
     After the war, he entered Purdue University to study engineering. He received his degree in 1951 and accepted a position as a design engineer with the Naval Avionics facility in Indianapolis, doing ordnance work for Naval aircraft applications. He also continued his education in a Purdue-run postgraduate program.
     Mr. Langford first came to General Electric's attention when he presented a paper at Ohio State University in 1953. A GE engineer who heard the presentation recommended that the Company contact him. Based on his educational achievements, his performance on his previous job and interviews, Gil Langford was offered and accepted a position as an advance-design engineer at GE's laboratory in Ithaca, N.Y.
     Three years later, he moved to General Electric's Philadelphia plant as an inertial equipment engineer. This experience helped prepare him to join a "blue ribbon" team that was formed to work on a part of the then new Polaris system.

14

Saving...

Mays...or was the more likely prospect for five or six years in minor league ballyards and a one-way ticket to obscurity? After working a year as an office boy and stock boy in a department store, he decided to play a season of professional baseball in Canada. The college scholarship offers had faded, and baseball seemed to be his best opportunity. It may have been, but a broken leg in mid-season cut short that career. Back home Mr. Kelly worked as a shipping clerk, then took a civil service examination and was hired as a file clerk at the local Veterans Administration office. After a two-year hitch in the Army that took him to Germany, he returned to the VA job and was tapped to learn to run mechanical data processing machines. He was restless in his government job. Running card-sorting and keypunch machines was all right, but the future seemed unpromising. He had married the year he entered the Army and his first child was born 18 months later. A newspaper help-wanted ad led him to the new General Electric department in Philadelphia that was working on missiles and space vehicles. The Company hired him to run data equipment and almost immediately sent him through training courses in a variety of skills related to operating data equipment. His training with GE led to a promotion to leader of the group that processed the department's payroll. Late in 1959 he was selected for GE-sponsored training in electric computers. It was the beginning of his present career in computer programming and business systems analysis. In 1960 Ron Kelly was promoted to professional (exempt) status. Today he makes almost three times the pay he received when he joined GE. He has continued to grow in his job as more sophisticated computer systems are installed at the Valley Forge Space Technology Center, where he works. He knows that, at 31, he has a substantial foothold in a field that has an excellent growth outlook. He regrets not having taken one of the college scholarships offered to him when he graduated from high school. But he figures that the broken leg he suffered during his try in pro baseball may have been Lady Luck in disguise. When offered a contract with a New York Giants farm team during his first year with General Electric, he turned it down. Mr. Kelly saw a future in industry as a better choice. [photo to right] Gilbert B. Langford A manager's advice to youth: know your abilities, set your goals--work to achieve them Some military experts say that the United States' best defense against enemy attack is the Polaris missile system. Capable of being fired from submerged submarines anywhere in the world's oceans, Polaris is a potent deterrent to any would-be aggressor. Gilbert B. Langford is one of many Americans contributing to the development and maintenance of this exacting and complicated system. A 38-year-old professional engineer, he is Manager of Components Engineering for the General Electric Ordnance Department in Pittsfield, Mass. The group that he directs plays a vital role in the Ordnance Department, which produces fire control and inertial guidance equipment for the Polaris system. In his present position, he has managed from 21 to 42 employees -- including as many as 16 professional engineers--who specify, select and evaluate parts and materials for all the Department's programs. He has been responsible for annual budgets ranging from $350,000 to $500,000. Mr. Langford started preparing himself for a career in management a long time ago. As a teenager back in Indianapolis, he grew up in a home environment strongly oriented toward education. Both his father, now deceased, and his mother, a retired elementary school principal, encouraged Gil to identify his interests early and pursue them. "I fixed my sights on engineering when I entered high school," he says. "With my parents' backing and encouragement, I worked hard in high school and planned for college." World War II temporarily interrupted those plans. Gil Langford entered the Army in 1943 following his graduation from high school. The following year he transferred to the U.S. Air Force. By the time the war ended, he was a first lieutenant. After the war, he entered Purdue University to study engineering. He received his degree in 1951 and accepted a position as a design engineer with the Naval Avionics facility in Indianapolis, doing ordnance work for Naval aircraft applications. He also continued his education in a Purdue-run postgraduate program. Mr. Langford first came to General Electric's attention when he presented a paper at Ohio State University in 1953. A GE engineer who heard the presentation recommended that the Company contact him. Based on his educational achievements, his performance on his previous job and interviews, Gil Langford was offered and accepted a position as an advance-design engineer at GE's laboratory in Ithaca, N.Y. Three years later, he moved to General Electric's Philadelphia plant as an inertial equipment engineer. This experience helped prepare him to join a "blue ribbon" team that was formed to work on a part of the then new Polaris system. 14