Robert A. Fuhrman, 84, a pioneering Lockheed engineer who played a
central role in the creation of the Polaris and Poseidon
submarine-launched missiles before rising to the top of the aeronautics
and aerospace giant, died Nov. 21 in Pebble Beach, Calif. He had blood
clots in his lungs.
During more than three decades at Lockheed, Mr. Fuhrman served as
president of three of its companies: Lockheed-Georgia,
Lockheed-California and Lockheed Missiles & Space. He became
president and chief operating officer of the corporation in 1986 and
vice chairman in 1988 before retiring in 1990.
"He was one of the leading aerospace engineers of the 20th century,"
said Sherman N. Mullin, former president of Lockheed's Skunk Works, the
division that produces top-secret military aircraft. "But he was also
very effective at building motivating teams and getting things done."
Remarking on the former Lockheed chief's accomplishments in military
and commercial aircraft, missiles, satellites and defense, Mullin said
Mr. Fuhrman had "this breadth of experience that was pretty much
unmatched."
Mr. Fuhrman was born in Detroit on Feb. 23, 1925. He received a
bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of
Michigan in 1945 and a master's degree in fluid mechanics and dynamics
from the University of Maryland in 1952.
He later completed an executive management program at Stanford University.
He was a flight test engineer at the Naval Air Station at Patuxent
River and chief of technical engineering for Ryan Aerospace Co. in San
Diego before joining Lockheed in 1958 as manager of the Polaris
program, which produced the first U.S. submarine-launched ballistic
missile. After his successes with Polaris, he became chief engineer of
Lockheed's missile-systems division in Sunnyvale, Calif., which
produced the Poseidon and Trident sub-launched missiles.
At Lockheed-California, Mr. Fuhrman resuscitated the L-1011 TriStar
program, which had been crippled by the bankruptcy of Rolls-Royce, the
engine manufacturer for the wide-body commercial transport plane.
He also led major studies on defense and industrial technology and
space launch strategy as a member of the Defense Department's science
board.
A past president and honorary fellow of the American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Mr. Fuhrman served as a senior adviser
for Lockheed until his death.
His first wife, Nan McCormick Fuhrman, died in 1988.
Survivors include his wife, Nancy Richards Fuhrman; three children; seven grandchildren; and a sister (@washingtonpost).
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