George A. Roberts Collection - 10 year Anniversary
George A. Roberts with Robert F. Mehl
From display case in the George A. Roberts Engineering Hall Atrium
The George A. Roberts Engineering Hall was dedicated on May 19, 1997.
When Dr. Roberts agreed to fund Roberts Hall, he asked to have his book collection in the building, along with the books and collected papers of his mentor, Robert F. Mehl. Mehl was Professor and Head of the Department of Metallurgy, 1935-1960.
These materials were brought together where they remain housed in part of the Hall known as the "Dilks Library"--a small conference room with locked bookcases, located next to the Singleton Room by the Roberts Atrium.
The University Archives has recently devoted attention to some of the non-book materials and papers, such as Roberts' personal momentos, company information about Teledyne Corporation; as well as, photos and awards related to Roberts' career. For a detailed inventory, contact the University Archives.
The collection consists of about 350 titles relevant to the field of Materials Science especially in regards to the industrial applications of materials, particularly steels.
To view books from the collection, requests should be made via the Engineering and Science Library, Science Libraries Reference.
To search for titles held in the ROBERTS collection, do a Complex Search in
CAMEO, the Library Catalog.
Choose: “ROBERTS (Roberts Conference Room)” from the dropdown location menu.
If desired, add additional search terms.
George A. Roberts ongoing
legacy
Biographical sketch, courtesy University Archives
George A. Roberts attended Carnegie Technical Institute from the year 1937 until graduating with a Bachelor of Science in engineering in 1939. He then went on to attain a Masters of Science in Metallurgy in 1941, and finally his PhD in Metallurgy in 1942. Prior to attending Carnegie Tech he had been enrolled in the Naval Academy. After just two years of attendance, financial cut-backs meant that he had to leave the academy, and thus begin attending Carnegie Tech. While at the Naval Academy, he developed a friendship with his room-mate Henry Singleton, which would inform both of their futures.
Roberts began working at Vanadium Alloys Steel Company (VASCO) in 1940, where he studied heat treatment of simple tool steels. This work was to become the basis for his thesis. VASCO offered him employment to aid his completion of his doctorate. He began as a research metallurgist in 1940, was promoted to chief metallurgist in 1945, and became the vice-president of technology in 1953. He remained at VASCO, and was elected President of the company in 1961.
In 1966, Henry Singleton and George Roberts negotiated a merger between VASCO and Singleton’s company Teledyne, Inc. Teledyne, Inc. was and is one of the most diversified Fortune 500 companies. Roberts remained a leader of Teledyne-VASCO, and Chairman of the Board until his retirement in 1991.
George Roberts is internationally recognized as an expert in physical metallurgy. He has published many technical papers and books in his area of expertise – tool steels. He has membership in many industry related organizations, such as: Metal Powders Industries Federation, and the American Society for Metals. He served as president of the American Society for Metals as well as for their foundation for Education and Research. He was elected into the National Academy of Engineering in 1978.