Arch Scurlock, corporate chairman, rocket scientist, and WWII Naval Officer

Arch Chilton Scurlock 82, a pioneer of solid-propellant rocketry, founder of the Atlantic Research Corporation, and Chairman of the investment firm, Research Industries Incorporated died December 9, 2002 of hear failure at his home in Arlington, Virginia.

Dr. Scurlock divided his time between Virginia, New York and Bermuda, where he had a home since 1969, allowing him to pursue boating in Castle Harbour and dining in his favourite restaurant, Tom Moore's Tavern.

He was a member of the Mid-Ocean Club, the Coral Beach Club and was a trustee and benefactor of the Bermuda Biological Station.

Dr. Scurlock was a leading scientist in an era of rapid technological progress after World War II and into the 1960's. His contributions revolutionised the field of solid-propellant rocketry for space exploration, defence, and weather reporting. In later years, he shifted his career to corporate management.

In 1985, Dr. Scurlock was honoured on the floor of the US House of Representatives for his outstanding accomplishments as an "engineer-scientist and inventor, entrepreneur, and founder of several important companies" and was honoured by his alma mater, the University of Texas as "Distinguished Engineering Graduate" as a "man of technical brilliance".

A native of Texas, Dr. Scurlock was born in Beaumont and earned degrees in chemical engineering and physics from UT where he was Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi. At Texas, he was a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity and was named "Best All-Around Intramural Athlete" in his senior year.

As a child in Beaumont, Scurlock sat for an intelligence test, and the local newspaper reported, "Boy Genius Discovered in Beaumont".

During World War II, he earned a certificate of proficiency in meteorology from the University of Chicago, before serving as a Navy aerologist in the Pacific flying on reconnaissance missions over the Philippines and New Guinea. He received several decorations before resigning his commission at the rank of Lieutenant to work for the Guided Missile Section of the Office of Naval Research in Washington, DC.

In 1948 earned a doctorate in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after researching jet propulsion involving flame stabilisation and propagation in high-velocity gas streams.

The next year, Dr. Scurlock co-founded Atlantic Research Corporation (ARC) in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia. By 1960 Atlantic Research grew to be the leading research and development company as well as one of the largest private employers in the Washington, D.C. area with nearly 3,000 staff.

At the company, Scurlock led the development of metallic fuel additives and wire-enhanced rapid-burning technologies for the Stinger and Army Tactical Missile System. These breakthroughs made possible Polaris, Poseidon missile systems and the Tomahawk and Patriot systems which are in use today.

He was the author of numerous technical papers and also received numerous patents. In 1959, Admiral Paul D. Stroop presented the company with a commendation from the Department of the Navy for "advancing significantly the state of the art of solid propellant rocketry".

The book, The Rocket Scientists, 1999, by Philip Key Reily , details the spirited teamwork and optimism of the scientists at Atlantic Research.

Dr. Scurlock co-founded Greater Washington Industrial Investments and Research Industries Incorporated - pioneering companies providing financial backing to start up companies.

Dr. Scurlock's father, Marvin Scurlock, was the son of a circuit-riding, Methodist minister. Even though he was an orphan and self-educated, Marvin earned a law degree and rose to become District Attorney of Jefferson County, Texas.

Dr. Scurlock's mother was Mary Welch Chilton, daughter of Senator Horace Chilton, the first US Senator from Texas who was born in the state. Chilton moved his family from Tyler, Texas to Beaumont during the years of the Spindletop oil boom in 1901. Earlier, around the 1850s, the families of both of Chilton's parents had moved to Texas from the Culpeper area of Virginia.

Horace Chilton's granfather, Thomas Chilton, also served in the US Congress as a Representative from Kentucky.

Survivors include his wife, Nancy Morrison Yonick Scurlock, three children by his first marriage to Maurine Spurbeck: Arch Chilton Scurlock, Jr. of Annandale, Virginia; Susan Scurlock Theiler of Alexandria, Virginia; and Marvin Curtis Scurlock of Fredericksburg, Virginia; three daughters from his marriage to Nancy Morrison: Mary Scurlock Adamson of Portland, Oregon; Nancy Scurlock Collins of Tucker's Town, Bermuda; and Margaret Ann Scurlock of New York; and a stepdaughter, Tracey Yonick Lane of Seattle.

He is also survived by ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

His funeral was held December 16 in the Bethlehem Chapel, Washington National Cathedral.