Gerald Rosselot
Gerald A. Rosselot was an American physicist and engineering executive at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Georgia Tech Research Institute and Bendix Corporation. He was an IEEE Fellow.
Early life
Rosselot was born January 11, 1908, in Westerville, Ohio. As a child, Rosselot traveled to France and England and became somewhat proficient in French. He attended and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Otterbein College in 1929, a Master of Arts from Ohio State University in 1930, and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 1936. In 1930, he married Gladys Anna Dickey, and would eventually have five children with her.Georgia Tech
In 1934, Rosselot came to Georgia Tech. Initially an instructor in physics and Mathematics, he quickly ascended through Assistant Professor in Physics to Associate Professor of Physics and later Professor of Physics. In 1950, Rosselot was selected as chairman of the Engineering College Research Council.In 1940, Rosselot was appointed by Georgia Institute of Technology president Marion L. Brittain as the assistant director of the Engineering Experiment Station. From 1941 to 1952, Rosselot was the organization's director, replacing the recently deceased acting director Harold Bunger. In his tenure as director of Georgia Tech's Engineering Experiment Station, World War II significantly increased the number and value of contracts coming to the station, and is credited with GTRI's entry into electronics, especially telecommunications and electronic warfare. At the end of World War II, Georgia Tech had about $240,000 annually in sponsored research. Other accomplishments during Rosselot's administration at the Engineering Experiment Station included the purchase of an electron microscope in 1946 for $13,000, the first such instrument in the Southeastern United States and one of few in the United States at the time. The Research Building was expanded, and a $300,000 Westinghouse A-C network calculator was given to Georgia Tech by Georgia Power in 1947.
Rosselot's administration also included the 1946 establishment of the Industrial Development Council, renamed to the Georgia Tech Research Institute in 1948 and to its present name, the Georgia Tech Research Corporation, in 1984. When the Georgia Board of Regents ruled that all money received in a year had to be spent that year; this was problematic because most government contracts span multiple years. Georgia Tech president Blake Van Leer and vice president Cherry Emerson created the solution, a non-profit corporation that would manage contracts for research services and subsequently hire the Engineering Experiment Station to perform the research. The new organization would also handle patents garnered through research, and distribute funds garnered from contracts and patents as needed.
In 1951, there was a dispute over station finances and Rosselot's hand in the foundation of Scientific Atlanta against Georgia Tech vice president Cherry Emerson. When it was founded in October 1951, Rosselot was president and CEO of Scientific Atlanta; at issue was potential conflicts of interest with his role at Georgia Tech and what, if any, role Georgia Tech should have in technology transfer to the marketplace. Rosselot resigned his post at Georgia Tech in November 1952, but his participation ensured the eventual success of Scientific Atlanta and made way for further technology transfer efforts by Georgia Tech's VentureLab and the Advanced Technology Development Center.