Norbert Wagner

..NOBBY", AFTER WORKING FOR THE GLENN MARTIN COMPANY FOR TWO YEARS AND

ATTENDING NIGHT SCHOOL AT JOHNS HOPKINS, ENTERED LOYOLA COLLEGE AND WAS

GRADUATED CUM LAUDE WITH A DEGREE IN CHEMISTRY IN 1943. AFTER GRADUATION,

HE STARTED CLASSES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, AND AS A GRADUATE

ASSISTANT, TAUGHT PHYSICS TO ARMY SPECIALIZED TRAINING STUDENTS AND

CIVILIAN CLASSES.

NOBBY CONSIDERS HIMSELF TO BE THE LUCKIEST MAN IN THE ARMY. WHEN THE DRAFT

FINALLY CAUGHT UP WITH HIM, BECAUSE OF HIS KNOWLEDGE OF "PHYSICS" HE WAS

ASSIGNED TO THE MEDICAL CORPS. AFTER TFM USUAL BASIC TRAINING, NOBBY WAS

SENT TO TEACH PHYSICS TO AN X-RAY TECHNICIAN'S CLASS. BEFORE TEACHING,

HOWEVER WAS REQUIRED TO TAKE THE COURSE HIMSELF. THIS IS WHERE HIS LUCK

BEGAN, FOR, WHEN THE SCHOOL WAS DISCONTINUED, HE GRADUATED WITH AN XRAY

TECHNICIANS RATING. EVENTUALLY, HE FOUND HIMSELF ON A TROOP SHIP

HEADED FOR THE JUNGLES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC. AFTER SIX SEASICK DAYS AT SEA,

THE SHIP PUT INTO PEARL HARBOR TO RESUPPLY. AMID THE NOISY DIN THAT WAS

CONSTANT ON THE SHIP, COME AN ORDER" "WAGNER, NORBERT, REPORT TO THE

FORWARD GANGPLANK WITH ALL YOUR GEARHE WAS THE ONLY ONE TO STAGGER

DOWN THAT LONG GANGPLANK, WHERE HE FOUND A JEEP WAITING TO WHISK HIM

AWAY TO THE ARMY HOSPITAL IN HONOLULU TO PLY HIS NEW TRADE. IN SPITE OF THE

WAR, HAWAII WAS STILL A PARADISE AND A YEAR AND A HALF IN PARADISE HAS TO BE

PURE LUCK.

AFTER THE WAR, NOBBY RETURNED TO COLLEGE PARK AND RECEIVED HIS MASTERS IN

PHYSICS.

HE ALSO MARRIED HIS LONGTIME SWEETTIEART, ALICE WEBB, WHOM HE HAD MET

DURING THEIR COLLEGE DAYS. ALICE, WHILE ATTENDING NOTRE DAME COLLEGE,

PARTICIPATED IN STUDIES IN THE PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY LAB AT LOYOLA, BY VIRTUE OF

WHICH SHE CLAIMS TO BE THE FIRST COED TO ATTEND THAT VENERABLE MALE

INSTITUTION.

AFTER THE WAR HE TOOK A JOB WITH THE ABERDEEN PROVING GROUNDS, STUDYING

TFIE DIFFRACTION OF ULTRASONIC BEAMS IN LIQUIDS AND THE BEHAVIOR OF MOLTEN

METALS IN SHAPED CHARGES.

HE JOINED THE INSTRUMENTS CORPORATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF

METEOROLOGICAL AND PHOTOGRAMMETRIC EQUIPMENT.

IN THE MAKING OF MAPS FROM AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS, HE DEVELOPED AN AUTOMATIC

SCANNING SYSTEM THAT ENABLED THE POSITIONING OF A PLATEN AT A PRECISE

HEIGHT IN A 3D-IMAGE, A TECHNIQUE NOW USED IN AUTOFOCUS CAMERAS. BEFORE HIS

RETIREMENT IN 1987 HE DESIGNED AND INSTALLED THE METEOROLOGICAL SYSTEM AT,

WHAT WAS THE THE WORLD'S LARGEST AIRPORT IN JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA.

NOBBY CAN NOW BE FOUND MOSTLY IN HIS VINEYARD, FENDING OFF ATTACKS BY

BIRDS, DEER, RACCOONS AND OTHER PREDATORS, OR, IN THE WINERY, TASTING THE

FRUITS OF HIS LABORS.