Notes |
Selby went to China where his father (Macy) was an economic advisor to Sun Yat-sen, during the time of the Boxer Rebellion. Apparently Selby was quite bright as a teenager, and the story goes that he was teaching Trigonometry to Chinese in Chinese at the age of sixteen or seventeen. He studied in Cal’Tech and became a Physicist. He resided in Tempe, AZ about 1935. Selby Skinner served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Barrage Balloon, Anti-aircraft Division during World War II (317th Coast Artillery Barrage Balloon Battalion. Source The U.S. Army Barrage Balloon Program, by James R. Schock).
From Who’s who in the Midwest, 1958:
SKINNER, Selby M(illmore), educator, b. Boston, July 19, 1905; p. Macy Millmore and Marian (Junkins) S.; B.S., U. Wash., 1929; Ph.D., Cal. Inst. Tech., 1933; m. Charlotte L. Miller, Aug. 10, 1932; children – Dunston, Reid. Instr. Ariz. State Tchrs. Coll., 1932-33, asst. prof., 1933-35; research asso. physics Columbia, 1935-37; asst. prof. U. Chgo., 1937-46; research analyst U.S. Govt., 1947-48; dir. research services to dir. research and development AEC, Chgo., 1948-50; chief scientist Office Deputy for Research and Office Sci. Research, USAF, 1950-52; sr. research asso., prof. lectr, chemistry and chem. engring. Cast Inst. Tech., 1952-54, asso [...]
Obituary from the News-Herald (Ohio), 8 May 2002: Private services were held for Dr. Selby M. Skinner, 96, of Kirtland.
Dr. Skinner died April 29, 2002, in Kirtland. Born July 19, 1905, in Boston, Mass., he lived in Baltimore, Md. before moving to Kirtland 30 years ago. He was a member of American Physics Society, American Chemical Society, American Instructors Aerospace and Astronautics, and also a member of Sigma XI, Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Chi Sigma. Mr. Skinner served six years active duty in World War II and 21 years in the reserves. He served as the Battalion Commander of Anti-Aircraft Artillery and was a member of Barrage Balloons Board. He was also on the Atomic Energy Commission and was Director of Research and Development – Chicago Operations, and Air Research and Development Command, United States Air Force. He directed programs in solid-state electronics, electromechanical effects of polymers, application of solid-state electronics, lubrication and adhesion, and thermodynamics of charge carrier flow. He consulted and researched properties of polymers and elastomers, electrostatic printing, instrumentation and printed circuits. He was manager of the Corporate Molecular Electronics Program at Westinghouse Defense and Space Center, also working on the Agena Docking Project, and helped develop night vision flying for aircraft during the Vietnam War, and was Senior Advisor in the Studies of Failure Mechanism and Energy Conversion in electronic materials and insulators, and was a research analyst to the United States Government. Dr. Skinner also had various professorships with several different universities. He had 38 patent disclosures, 40 publications in the fields of failure mechanisms, solid-state electronics of insulators, thermodynamics of electrical phenomena, polymer technology and energy conversion. Survivors are his sons, Dunston Skinner and Reid Skinner; grandchildren, Jeffrey (Monica) Skinner and Catherine Skinner; and brother, Carlton (Solange) Skinner. His wife, Charlotte Lahring Miller Skinner; parents, Macy M. and Marion (Junkins) Skinner; and sister, Barbara Skinner, are deceased. Arrangements are being handled by Blessing Cremation Center in Mentor.
Source: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 Name: Selby Skinner; Arrival Date: 15 Sep 1923; Port of Departure: Havre; Ship Name: France.
|