Early life LaBerge was born in
Chicago in 1924. His father was a
salesman selling industrial brushes for the
Osborn Brush Company. He was educated at
Proviso Township High School in Maywood, Illinois, and the
University of Notre Dame, receiving a degree in
Naval Science in 1944.
Career After graduating, LaBerge joined the
United States Navy (then in the midst of
World War II) and was posted to the
yard minesweeper USS YMS-165 based in
Palau. He was promoted to the rank of
Captain in 1946. Upon leaving the Navy, LaBerge returned to Notre Dame, and shortly thereafter married Patricia Sammon of
River Forest, Illinois. He received a
B.S. in
Physics from Notre Dame in 1947 and a
Ph.D. in Physics in 1950. In 1950, LaBerge became Program Engineer for the
AIM-9 Sidewinder at the
Naval Ordnance Test Center in
China Lake,
California. He was promoted in 1955, becoming
Program Manager of the Sidewinder program. In 1957, LaBerge moved to
Philco as director of engineering at its Western Development Laboratories in
Palo Alto, California. (Philco was acquired by the
Ford Motor Company in 1961, becoming
Philco Ford.) Beginning in 1962, LaBerge headed up the Philco Ford team that designed and installed the instrumentation of the
Manned Spacecraft Center in
Houston. During this period, he worked closely with
NASA officials, and got to know several of the original
United States astronauts. In 1963, he was promoted to director of the Philco Ford's Houston operation. He returned to Palo Alto in 1966 as division vice president, then vice president for the Electronics Group, at Philco Ford's Western Development Laboratories. LaBerge returned to
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (as the Naval Ordnance Test Center had been renamed) in 1971 as deputy technical director and then as technical director. In 1973,
President of the United States Richard Nixon nominated LaBerge as
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Research and Development). He held this post until 1976, when he became
Assistant Secretary General (Defense Support) at
NATO in
Brussels. In 1977, President
Jimmy Carter nominated LaBerge as
United States Under Secretary of the Army and he subsequently held this office from July 27, 1977, until February 28, 1980. On February 15, 1979, he also became Principal Deputy to the
Under Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering), and continued to hold this post until 1981, even after he relinquished his office as Under Secretary of the Army. Upon leaving the
United States Department of Defense in 1981, LaBerge became an
executive at
Lockheed, serving as corporate vice president of the Lockheed Missile and Space Company in
Sunnyvale, California, from 1981 to 1985, and then as Lockheed's Vice President of Advanced Planning at
Calabasas, California, from 1985 to 1989.
Later years LaBerge retired in 1989. In retirement, he served as chair of the
Army Science Board. He also held several academic appointments, including senior researcher at the Institute of Advanced Technology at the
University of Texas at Austin;
visiting professor at the
Defense Systems Management College at the
Defense Acquisition University in
Fort Belvoir,
Virginia; and visiting professor of physics at the
Naval Postgraduate School in
Monterey, California. A
genealogy enthusiast, LaBerge traced his genealogy back to
Robert de La Berge, one of the original settlers of
New France. LaBerge died in
Santa Cruz, California, on July 16, 2004. He was 80 years old. ==References==