Tom (Doc) Poulter came to SRI in 1948 from Armour Research Foundation (now ITTRI) in Chicago, along with Jesse Hobson. Hobson came to be the Director (today called the president), and Poulter came to be Associate Director. Poulter’s fame (two Congressional Medals of Honor for polar exploration) added greatly to SRI’s stature.
Poulter immediately got involved with the Physics Department, which led shortly to the establishment of the Explosives and Extreme Pressure Laboratory. In 1953 the Lab had a staff of less than 10; by 1955 it had grown to over 50 and was one of the strongest units of SRI—now named the Poulter Laboratory. Poulter attracted to SRI people who would figure prominently in the future of the unit, among them George Duvall, Don Davenport, Milt Kells, Wes Farrand, and Chuck Bagley.
By 1955 the Calaveras Test Site was well established as one of the best equipped explosives test sites west of the Mississippi. It was staffed mainly by physicists and technicians recruited from Los Alamos.
Around 1958, Poulter brought aboard a propulsion group from Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. The leaders of the group were Pete Nichols and Rafael Muraca. Poulter led the construction of a modern propulsion lab for the new group at Calaveras. He also hired Marion Hill from the Naval Ordnance Laboratory. Eventually the propulsion lab became part of the Chemistry Lab with Marion Hill as its director.
Poulter’s last official position at SRI was General Manager of Physical and Life Sciences. After he retired from administrative duties in 1960, he started a new career in the biological sonar of diving mammals and established the Bio-Sonar Laboratory in Coyote Hills across the bay from Menlo Park. When the lab closed in 1973, he continued to frequent SRI’s labs and hallways showing his latest scientific activities. He also lectured at the SRI noon forum from time-to-time, regaling us with stories of his very interesting life, including being Second in Command on the Byrd Antarctic Expedition. At the time of his death in 1978, he had just demonstrated electronic implants in the ear to restore hearing to the totally deaf, working with Dr. Robin Michelson of the UC Medical School in San Francisco.
Doc Poulter was a key figure in the early success of SRI. His name continues to be seen in the world renowned lab that bears his name.