Elise Harmon

Elise F. Harmon
Born	Elise Frances Harmon September 3, 1909 Mount Enterprise, Texas
Died	March 6, 1985 (aged 75) Redwood City, California
Resting place	IOOF Cemetery, Denton, Texas
Alma mater	University of North Texas University of Texas at Austin

Elise Frances Harmon (née Harmon; 3 September 1909 in Mount Enterprise, Texas – 6 March 1985 in Santa Clara County, California)^[1] was an American physicist, chemist, and influential contributor to the miniaturization of computers.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]}

Career highlights

Research

During World War II, she worked in the United States Naval Research Laboratory's Aircraft and Electrical Division. In the early 1950, Harmon worked for the Bureau of Standards and the Naval Research Bureau in Washington, D.C. In 1953, she became chief research printed circuit engineer for the Aerovox Corporation, headquartered at Plant 2 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. At the time, she had the responsibility of directing the research and development, as well as establishing plant procedures for new methods of printed circuitry and printed circuit components.^[12][13] In the 1970s, she was head of Aerovox Corporation's printed circuit activities.^[12] She was a member of the American Chemical Society, the Institute of Radio Engineers, and the Texas Academy of Science.

One of Harmon's major contributions to the field was the development of a hot die stamp method to create printed circuits in which silver conductors were infused on thermoplastics and thermosetting materials.^[14][15] She and Philip J. Franklin (né Philip Jacquins Franklin; 1909–1979) were awarded a patent in 1953 for this technological breakthrough.^{[lower-alpha 1]} Harmon also researched the action of grease and lubricants in high speed bearings and established the pilot plant procedures for an entirely new method of printed circuitry.^[16]

“	There are no barriers against a woman with capabilities getting into the scientific field ... Men succeed in hairdressing and cooking, don’t they?	”
	— Elise Harmon, 1953 [17]

Teaching

Harmon taught chemistry, physics, and biology at the Brownsville Junior High School from about 1934 to 1937. She later taught those subjects at Texas Junior College, the University of North Texas, and University of Texas at Austin.

Death

Harmon died March 6, 1985, in Santa Clara County, California, while a resident of Redwood City, California. She is buried in Section P, Block 35, Grave 1 of the IOOF Cemetery, Denton, Texas, next to her mother, Geoffie Harmon (1887–1931), in Grave 2, and brother, Hamlett Stephen Harmon (1913–1997), in Grave 3. The three grave sites were purchased in 1931 by her father, George Herbert Harmon (1881–1957).

Selected patents

She held numerous patents including, ones for:

1953 US 2656570 A: "Plastic Matrix for Printing Resistors" (hot die stamp method of infusing silver conductors on polymerized materials)^{[lower-alpha 1]}

1953 US 2844172 A: "Silk Screen Stretcher" (mechanism for stretching fabric to obtain uniform tautness)^{[lower-alpha 2]}

Injection printing machine for film resistors

Improved high altitude carbon brush performance, enabling American airplanes to maintain superiority during WWII

Formal education

High school

Around 1927, Harmon graduated from Marshall High School in Marshall, Texas.

Bachelor of Science

In 1931, Harmon earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from University of North Texas.^[18] In June 1930, while a student, she was elected president of the W.N. Masters Chemical Society,^[19] a student organization she joined as a freshman in 1927, sponsored by Wallace Newton Masters (1864–1943), founder of the Chemistry Department in 1910.^[20]

Master of Science

Harmon earned a Master of Science from the University of Texas at Austin.

Post graduate work

Harmon did post-graduate work at George Washington University and the University of Maryland.^[14]

Awards

• 1956, Harmon was awarded the Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award for her specialty in printed circuits.^[21]
• 1968, Harmon was awarded the IPC President's Award, honoring those who made the most significant contributions to IPC programs during the term of office of each departing IPC president^[22]

Selected published works

• "Interconnection of Integrated Circuit Flat Packs in Autonetics Improved Minuteman Program," by Elise F. Harmon, IEEE Transactions on Component Parts (journal), Vol. 11, No. 2 (1964), pps. 135–144; ISSN 0097-6601, OCLC 4653138666

• "Fabrication of Multilayer Boards at Autonetics for Minuteman II Program," by Elise F. Harmon, Anaheim, California: North American Aviation / Autonetics (1965); OCLC 258395160

Presented at the Multilayer Seminar, sponsored by Milton S. Kiver Publications, Inc. (Milton Sol Kiver; 1918–2005), and Electronic Packaging and Production (magazine), New York, New York, March 22–25, 1965

• "Method of Making a Photosensitive Solder Maskant," United States Department of the Air Force, Fort Belvoir Defense Technical Information Center, December 21, 1973; OCLC 227239303 and 831431571

• "Sliding Contacts at High Altitudes, Experimental System for Carbon Brush Investigations," PB129176 (U.S. Publications Board Number), by E.F. Harmon, E-3176 (NRL Formal Report Number), September 1947 (date of report)

Bibliography of Unclassified NRL Formal Reports Numbers 1000 to 5700, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, July 1962, pg. 52; OCLC 15697667, 831978265 and 227304660

Affiliations

• American Chemical Society — Harmon became a member in 1950^[14][23]
• Institute of Radio Engineers^[14]
• Texas Academy of Sciences^[14]

Family

Siblings

1. Elise Harmon's brother, Ham Harmon (né Hamlett Stephen Harmon; 1913–1997) played professional football as a 220-pound (100 kg) center with the Chicago Cardinals in 1937 for one season. He was the 43rd pick in the 5th round of the 1937 NFL draft.^[17] In 1986, Ham Harmon was inducted by his alma mater, the University of Tulsa, into its Athletic Hall of Fame.^[24]
2. Elise Harmon and her aunt, Lucy Barham Johnson (née Lucy Elise Barham; 1885–1950), raised Elise Harmon's sister, Ann Ferrari (née Georgianna Marie Harmon; 1919–2014) following the death from cancer of their mother, Geoffie Harmon (née Barham; 1884–1931), when Georgianna was 11. Ann earned a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from the University of Texas at Austin in 1940 and a Certificate in Physical Therapy from Walter Reed General Hospital in 1942. During World War II, Georgianna Harmon served as a Physical Therapist at a field hospital in the Cotswolds of England. Following the war, Ann trained at the Warm Springs Foundation for Polio Rehabilitation in Georgia and participated in the Salk Polio Vaccine field trail. In 1952, she earned a Master of Science degree from Stanford and upon graduation served as Instructor of Physical Therapy at Stanford.^[25]

Further resources

• "Harmon, Elise F.," Society of Women Engineers National Records, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University, Box 189
• "Autumn Stanley Papers," Iowa State University, Special Collections, Box 77, Folder 64, Dates: 1953–2003

References

Patents

Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office:

1. Gazette, Vol. 675, October 1953, pg. 922
        Elise F. Harmon & Philip J. Franklin,
           Assignors to the U.S.A. as represented by the Secretary of the Army
        "Plastic matrix for printing resistors"
        US 2656570 A, filed November 15, 1951, serial no. 256,584, granted October 27, 1953
2. Gazette, July 1958
        E'lise F. Harmon,
           Assignors to the U.S.A. as represented by the Secretary of the Army
        "Silk Screen Stretcher"
        US 2844172 A, filed November 13, 1953, serial no. 392,066, granted July 22, 1958

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Inline citations

1. "California Death Index, 1940-1997". FamilySearch. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
2. Marquis Who's Who of American Women, Marquis Who's Who; ISSN 0270-2940
   Who's Who of American Women (Hemke is in vol. 1 of 3)
   4th ed., 1966–1967 (1965); OCLC 11933899
   5th ed., 1968–1969 (1967)
3. American Women in Technology (encyclopedia), Linda Zierdt-Warshaw (née Linda M. Zierdt; born 1958), Alan Winkler, and Leonard Bernstein (eds.), ABC-CLIO (2000), pg. 131; OCLC 48139041, 4950394347 and 539148641
4. Biography Index, New York: H.W. Wilson Co.; ISSN 0006-3053
   Vol. 20: September 1994 – August 1995 (1995); OCLC 33662886
   Vol. 27: September 2001 – August 2002 (2002); OCLC 51500525
5. Notable Scientists from 1900 to the Present 2nd ed. (Harmon is in vol. 2 of 5), Gale Group (2001); OCLC 46790795
6. Notable Twentieth-Century Scientists 2nd ed. (Harmon is in vol. 2 of 4), Gale Research (1995); OCLC 30781516
7. The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: Pioneering Lives From Ancient Times to the Mid-20th Century (Harmon is in vol. 1 of 2), Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie, PhD, Joy Dorothy Harvey (eds.), Routledge (2000), pps. 557–558; OCLC 40776839
8. International Handbook of Aerospace Awards and Trophies, compiled by Signe Ruh Ottersen (1906–2002), Special Libraries Association, Aerospace Division; edited by the staff of the National Air and Space Museum Library, Smithsonian Institution Press (1978); OCLC 3481732
9. The Women's Book of World Records and Achievements, Lois Decker O'Neill (1920–2004), Anchor Press/Doubleday (1979), pg. 188; OCLC 5842139
10. Chronology of Women's History, by Kirstin Olsen, Greenwood Press (1994), pg. 286; OCLC 29636971
11. Women Scientists in America: From Antiquity to the Present, by Caroline L. Herzenberg (born 1932), Locust Hill Press (1986); OCLC 12750495 and 612942714
12. "Scientists in the News," Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), Vol. 123, No. 3209, June 29, 1956, pps. 1167–1168; ISSN 0036-8075
13. "Expansion at Aerovox," Radio-Electronic Engineering, September 1953, pg. 18; OCLC 1643890, 500093083 and 752535680
14. Mothers and Daughters of Invention: Notes for a Revised History of Technology, by Autumn Stanley (born 1933), Rutgers University Press (1993), pg. 387; OCLC 31782818
15. "Brewer Report," by Given Ankeny Brewer (1913–1987), consulting engineer, pps. 67–70, High Temperature Strain Gage Research, Summary Report, by Francis G. Tatnall (1896–1981), Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation, January 25, 1955; OCLC 798078334 and 795025094
16. Contributions of 20th Century Women to Physics, "Materials Physics, Harmon, Elise," Box 4, Folder 6, UCLA Library, Special Collections; OCLC 855156444
17. "Tall Texas Girl Makes Mark in Engineer School," Odessa American May 22, 1953, pg. 8
18. "Commencement Program for North Texas State Teachers College, August 25, 1931," pg. 2
19. "Chemistry Society Elects Officers," Denton Record-Chronicle, June 20, 1930, pg. 3; OCLC 233143879
20. "Down the Corridor: Chemistry Centennial," North Texan, March 16, 2011
21. Rossiter, Margaret W. (1995). Women Scientists in America: Before Affirmative Action, 1940-1972. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 340. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
22. From Vacuum Tubes to Nanotubes: An Amazing Half Century, Michael Martel (ed.), IPC (publisher) (2007), pg. 176
23. The Diamond Jubilee Directory, American Chemical Society (1951), pg. 51; OCLC 609953776
24. Golden Hurricane Football: At the University of Tulsa, by Chad Bonham, Arcadia Publishing (2004), pg. 21; OCLC 56948322
25. Obituary: "Georgianna Harmon Ferrari," www.recordnet.com, Local Media Group, Inc., Stockton, California, February 28, 2014

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