[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 40 (Friday, March 3, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   TRIBUTE TO INVENTOR AUSTIN STANTON

                                 ______


                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 3, 1995
  Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an 
outstanding American, Austin N. Stanton, who died November 27, 1994, at 
the age of 91 following a brief illness. Austin Stanton was the 
inventor of microcircuitry--the precursor to the computer age. He was a 
long-time resident of Garland, TX, and lived in Bonham, TX, in my 
Fourth Congressional District, during the past 8 years.
  Austin Stanton dared to dream, and through hard work and 
determination made those dreams come true. Born on May 31, 1903, in 
Cromwell, IA, to Harriet L. Stanton, teacher, and the Rev. Jay B. 
Stanton, pastor and teacher, he left home at the age of 12 and worked 
at various odd jobs until he decided as a teenager that he should 
develop his own potential. He hopped a freight train to State 
University of Iowa and paid his way through school by working as a 
night serviceman for a power company. He received a B.E. degree in 
Electrical Engineering from the university in 1925, followed by an M.S. 
degree in physics in 1927. His thesis, ``Phenomena in Resonance 
Radiation of Cesium,'' was the foundation for later scientific and 
technological achievements.
  He was married in 1926 to Margaret L. Saveraid, and following 
college, they drove to Texas, where Mr. Stanton began working with a 
seismograph crew in oil exploration. From 1927 to 1945 he gained 
experience in geophysics and electronics, serving as president of 
Geophysical Exploration Co. and Texas Geophysical Co., both of Dallas, 
and as associate professor and acting head of the electrical 
engineering department and head of the preradar school, U.S. Army, at 
Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
  In 1945, he founded Varo Corp. in an old building on his farm in 
Garland, TX, with about $800 in capital. The building was converted 
into a laboratory, and his young, small staff began work on the design 
for a revolutionary power conversion unit for military aircraft. They 
also developed tiny power supplies, microcircuitry, and precision 
timing devices for space vehicles. Varo conceived and developed the 
first light-amplifying, night-vision telescope, first electronic 
inverters, and the first microcircuits. Microcircuitry led to the 
development of integrated circuits, which brought about the computer 
age. Varo was the only producer and supplier of microcircuitry for more 
than 5 years. Their microcircuit transmitter was donated to the 
Smithsonian Institution, where it was placed on display. When Mr. 
Stanton retired as chairman of the board of Varo in 1967, he had 
parlayed his $800 investment into a successful $60 million per year 
international business. He also provided advice and assistance
 to Texas Instruments Co. in the microelectronics field.

  Since 1967 Mr. Stanton has been actively involved in developing 
advanced technology. He was chairman of the board of the Keller Corp. 
and Methacoal Corp., both research and development companies and 
leaders in various phases of the alternative fuels, power and energy, 
electric generation, and waste utilization fields. With Leonard J. 
Keller, an expert in engineering, he developed Ambient Energy Corp, and 
built the first Ambient Energy Home, a model of affordable, all-
electric energy homes. In 1990 he coinvented the cleanest, most 
efficient, and least costly coal-based electric generating plant in the 
world. He earned approximately 40 patents during his lifetime and was 
actively involved in technology development until his recent illness.
  Mr. Stanton was for many years a personal friend and associate of 
Wernher von Braun, the principal scientist of space-age technology. He 
provided valuable assistance to Von Braun and was the first to propose 
the commercialization of space. He made presentations on the subject at 
the first international conference on space utilization.
  Austin Stanton also was a philanthropist. Before he moved to Bonham 
from Garland, he donated 25 acres of land near downtown Garland and 
pledged $350,000 in Varo stock--which later sold for $1 million--for 
construction of a hospital, which became the nucleus of Baylor Medical 
Center in Garland. He also contributed more than 100 acres of ranch 
land to the city's parks and recreation system.
  Austin Stanton received many awards during his lifetime, including 
``Pioneer of the Space Age'' award from the U.S. Army and the ``Lloyd 
Berkner Space Utilization'' award and the ``Pioneer and Leader in Space 
and Microelectronics'' award from the American Astronautical Society. 
He was a fellow of the American Astronautical Society and the British 
Interplanetary Society and a member of Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Xi.
  He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Margaret L. Stanton, 2 
daughters, a sister, 17 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, and 3 
great-great-grandchildren. He was a good friend of mine, and he will be 
missed and remembered by all those who knew him.
  It is a rare privilege, Mr. Speaker, to have the opportunity to pay 
tribute to this singular individual, who shared his talents and the 
fruits of his labors with his country, his community, his peers, and 
his family. Austin Stanton's life touched our lives in many ways--
through scientific and technological advances, in our defense and space 
programs, and in our environmental efforts. As we adjourn today, Mr. 
Speaker, I ask my Colleagues to join me in paying our last respects to 
a truly great American--Austin Stanton.


                          ____________________