John L. McLucas

Who was John L. McLucas?

John Luther McLucas was United States Secretary of the Air Force from 1973 to 1975, becoming Secretary of the Air Force on July 19, 1973. He had been Acting Secretary of the Air Force since May 15, 1973, and Under Secretary of the Air Force since March 1969. Prior to his appointment as Under Secretary, he was president and chief executive officer of MITRE Corporation, of Bedford, Massachusetts, and McLean, Virginia.

McLucas was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He attended public schools in McColl and Latta, South Carolina, graduating from Latta High School in 1937. He received a bachelor of science degree from Davidson College in 1941, a master of science degree in physics from Tulane University in 1943, and his doctorate in physics from Pennsylvania State University in 1950.

During World War II, he served as an officer in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. After one year at the Air Force Cambridge Research Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he enrolled at Pennsylvania State University.

From 1950 to 1957, he was vice president and technical director of Haller, Raymond and Brown Inc., an electronics firm at State College, Pennsylvania.