Robert F. McDermott
Robert Francis McDermott | |
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| Other work | Chairman, CEO of USAA |
Education
McDermott graduated from the
Air Force Career
General McDermott served as a combat pilot and operations officer of a fighter-bomber group in the European Theater during
He was appointed by
General McDermott has emerged as a recognized leader in higher education and pioneer in military education. The innovations he introduced in the service academy system of education included the "whole person" concept in selecting cadets and a program of advanced and elective courses to enrich the prescribed curriculum. The concept of using measures of a candidate's moral and leadership attributes as well as physical and mental qualifications for selection was introduced in 1956, for the first time at any service academy.
Also in 1956, as another service academy first, General McDermott introduced a comprehensive curriculum enrichment program designed to provide each cadet with a challenge to advance academically as far and as fast as possible, in accordance with the cadet's aptitudes, interests and prior preparation. General McDermott laid the groundwork for the establishment of an Astronautical Research Laboratory and an extension of the enrichment program to include graduate education opportunities for exceptional cadets. He was credited with introducing about 30 academic majors to the Academy and bringing a degree of flexibility to curriculum requirements.[1]
Post-Air Force
McDermott wrote books on finance for service personnel, which attracted the attention of USAA president Charles Cheever and in 1968, McDermott retired from the Air Force to join USAA and become its chief executive officer. Under his leadership, USAA grew from the 16th to the 5th largest insurer of private automobiles in the nation and the nation's 4th largest homeowner insurer. A Washington Post obituary explained:
Within the company, he was a leading force for minority hiring and equalizing wages. He established four-day workweeks and made employee child care a feature to attract working mothers. "You don't lead by being authoritarian, he said....He had a reputation as a rare maverick in the insurance business, most notably advocating air bags as a crucial safety measure when auto manufacturers were saying it was too costly.[1]
In September 1993 he assumed the position of chairman emeritus.
McDermott also played a significant role in the community of
Awards and recognition
Testaments to his lifelong interests in education include an elementary school and a Clinical Science Building at the University of Texas Health Science Center which bear his name. A grateful community designated a section of Interstate 10 in Texas running through San Antonio between I-35 outside of Downtown to Loop 1604 as the Robert F. McDermott Freeway in recognition of his many initiatives as a pioneer civic entrepreneur, both in education and economic development. Academic chairs in his honor have been established at the United States Air Force Academy and the United States Military Academy, and the library at the Air Force Academy also bears his name.
For his leadership in business, he was selected to the Texas Business Hall of Fame in 1987 and the American National Business Hall of Fame in 1989. In 1993, West Point selected him to receive its Distinguished Graduate Award. In 1994
Death
McDermott died on August 28, 2006, in San Antonio at the age of 86. He had suffered a stroke about a month earlier.
Notes
- ^ ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
- American Academy of Achievement.
- ^ Robert F. McDermott, San Antonio Express News, obituary, August 28, 2006.
- ^ Henry G. Cisneros, Eulogy of Robert F. McDermott, September 1, 2006.
External links
- Official U.S. Air Force biography at the Wayback Machine (archived February 11, 2004)
- American National Business Hall of Fame entry
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