BRIGADIER GENERAL ROBERT FRANCIS McDERMOTT

General Robert Francis McDermott was born on July 31, 1920, in Boston, MA, to Alphonsus and Anna McDermott. He graduated from the Boston Latin School in 1937 and continued his education at Norwich University. He received an appointment to the United States Military Academy in 1940 and was commissioned on January 19, 1943. In 1950, General McDermott earned an MBA degree from Harvard University.

On January 20, 1943, General McDermott married Alice Patricia McDermott at Trinity Chapel at West Point. Their marriage would last 47 years until Alice's death in 1990. Following their wedding, General McDermott was assigned to the 474th Fighter Bomber Group as its deputy group operations officer and flew 61 combat missions in a P-38 during World War II in the European Theatre. After the war, he remained in Europe on General Eisenhower's staff and later served in the Pentagon.

After teaching economics at West Point for 4 years, General McDermott was assigned to the newly established Air Force Academy as vice dean and professor of economics. In 1956, he was appointed Dean of Faculty, and in 1959, President Eisenhower appointed General McDermott the first Permanent Dean of Faculty and promoted him to brigadier general. At that time, he was the youngest flag-rank officer in all of the armed services. In recognition of General McDermott's contributions and innovations at the Air Force Academy, the Air Force named the cadet library for him and called him the ``Father of Modern Military Education.'' He retired from the Air Force in 1968.

General McDermott joined USAA--United Services Automobile Association--as executive vice president, and became its president in January 1969. Throughout his career, McDermott's philosophy was to nurture the employees and to promote their personal and professional growth treating them and USAA's customers by the Golden Rule. His efforts bore success. In 1993, USAA was ranked No. 1 in ``The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America.'' General McDermott retired as chairman and CEO of USAA in 1993.

On August 6, 1994, General McDermott married Marion Slemon of Colorado Springs. They enjoyed his retirement in San Antonio and Colorado Springs, but General McDermott did not slow down. He was active in the San Antonio community with business and charitable organizations, enjoyed traveling to visit family and friends, and continued playing golf and his trombone.

As a dedicated and enthusiastic advocate for San Antonio, General McDermott worked tirelessly to advance economic development in the area. In 1974, he was elected chairman of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and promoted San Antonio as a center for domestic and international growth. He also founded the Economic Development Foundation and was a cofounder of United San Antonio. In the 1980s, General McDermott focused on the development of biotechnology in San Antonio to provide the city with a viable economic sector for the 21st century. In 1984, he founded the Texas Research and Technology Foundation which began development of the Texas Research Park--TRP--the core of biotechnology for San Antonio. In the early 1990s, General McDermott also led a group of local investors to buy the San Antonio Spurs to assure it would stay in San Antonio. To coach the Spurs, he selected Air Force Academy graduate Gregg Popovich who led the team to win three NBA championships.

For General McDermott's wide-ranging efforts on behalf of San Antonio, the city of San Antonio named a section of Interstate Highway 10 West as the ``Robert F. McDermott Freeway.'' He also received recognition for his business and educational activities, including an elementary school named for him, induction into the Texas Business Hall of Fame in 1987 and the American National Business Hall of Fame in 1989; the recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award from West Point in 1993; the recipient of Harvard Business School's Alumni Achievement Award in 1998; and most recently, the University of the Incarnate Word established the Robert F. McDermott Professorship in Organizational Leadership this year.

Today I honor the passing of a great family man, a terrific friend, and an outstanding community leader.

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