6 Responses to “A Public Celebration of Bob Beyster’s Life”

1. 1 Lyle Dunbar Jan 10th, 2015 at 1:28 pm

   I am sorry to hear of Dr. Beyster’s passing, but I am proud to have been a part of his successful life story. I remembered my interview with him in 1971 when I hired on to SAIC (SAI at the time) and helped start the 3rd office of SAIC in Los Angeles with Chris Busch. I was a young engineer with no concept of entrepreneurship. He taught me and many others how to be an entrepreneur. It was a good news and bad news story for SAIC. He taught us how to do it at SAIC, and then many of us left SAIC to do it ourselves! I have spent my entire career as a “serial entrepreneur” since leaving SAIC. I sold my DR Technologies company in 2009; but couldn’t stop being an entrepreneur. At age 69, I am on my fourth successful iteration- SAIC, SPARTA, DR Technologies, and now Utility Composite Solutions International. I always remember Bob’s response when we would go to his office to celebrate a recent success. It could be paraphrased into the simple statement- What are you doing for me tomorrow?

   Lyle Dunbar, SAIC Class of 1971-1982.

2. 2 Jim Martin Family Jan 15th, 2015 at 11:55 am

   There is no way to calculate the influence one man, Bob Beyster, has had on so many lives. The Martin family have all be blessed with our association with SAIC. It not only brought us to La Jolla, but had an impact on each of our children’s lives and ours. It opened up vistas that we had not even imagined. Thank you, thank you.
   Of all the wonderful ideas that Bob had , the best was undoubtedly asking Betty Jean Brock to be his wife. There is a saying about someone that is so applicable to Betty. She walked about and did not know how her light shown.
   We are grateful to be a part of this celebration of a great life.

3. 3 Maurice Sabado Jan 15th, 2015 at 12:12 pm

   I am saddened by the news of DR. Bob Beyster passing. He made great contributions to the U. S. , community and SAIC employees. He empowered me and the employees with corporate freedoms to make gains benefiting all.

   I was recruited to join SAIC in May 1984, from Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) where we had just completed the construction and startup of Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) by John Glancy with Ali Dabiri, to start the Princeton Division of SAIC located at the end of the Princeton airport, after I completed a talk on my view of the next PPPL step in fusion research in the C-site LOB Auditorium.

   I met Bob Beyster and Larry Kull during my interview with them and Ed Frieman whom I had known from PPPL, at the SAIC Headquarters on Prospect St. In La Jolla, above the bank. Their expectations of me were clear, SAIC was an employee-owned company dedicated to solving societal problems with technical prowess, second to none.

   I joined and my first contract was from PPPL to continue managing their TFTR-TFM Tokamak Engineering, and Nuclear Engineering Divisions, followed closely by a contract, both sole source, from Louie Rosen, at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for LAMPF (which subsequently became LANCE) accelerator supporting their proposal to DOE for LAMPF II, which became annual sole source contracts from LANL for many years. The key to these early project business captures was Bob Beyster’s and SAIC’s reputations. They had contracted with the Company, whose reputation for technical prowess, was the settling factor.

   Bob provided for SAIC employees welfare through rewards that other companies also provided, but the additional performance-based company mercurial-raising growth of SAIC stock and stock options, rewards incentivized employees behavior to focus on Business capture, and increasing SAIC’s technical reputation, by providing our customers with value-added solutions for their projects. His apparent philosophy of raising company revenue tide, raised all employees net worth. It’s employees, all received rewards commensurate with their contributions to the Company. It’s technicians, secretaries, engineers, scientists, to executives all gained.

   We salute the Company you started Bob, and your brilliant pursuit of SAIC excellence for all our customers, especially the U.S. Government is a legacy we appreciate. We are now meeting our business challenges with the Company becoming public-traded and its divesture into Leidos and new SAIC.

   Maurice Sabado

4. 4 Judith Morgan Jan 21st, 2015 at 6:54 pm

   What a loss to San Diego and to the globe and yet what an extraordinary blessing that Bob Beyster lived so fully and followed his kaleidoscopic dreams–daring to pursue that which excited him, whether it was the next tall wave or the bold concept of SAIC.
   From the moment they met, my beloved husband, Neil Morgan, who also died in 2014, was an admirer and booster of Bob’s non-stop ideas and his audacity on multitudinous original missions.
   I send my love, as I know Neil would, to Betty and Mary Ann and all the family. And regret that I will not be in San Diego on Jan. 31 to lift a toast.
   Judith Morgan

5. 5 Kathy West Jan 31st, 2015 at 8:08 pm

   A rainbow, one of nature’s most splendid masterpieces soared high up into the sky late this afternoon during the reception and celebration of Dr. Bob Beyster’s life.

6. 6 John Dishon Jan 31st, 2015 at 8:16 pm

   Two weeks ago I began calling old friends from SAI to determine if they were coming to Bob’s Celebration. I had worked with many of these people on or off for 35 years, but one, Dick Miller, had been my colleague, my office mate and my friend at both offices we ran in Sunnyvale and Albuquerque. We had worked together on UGTs, HE events, and various experiments for 20 years.

   We had not talked to one another for several years, and when Dick answered the phone, I started off with a rather glib: “ I’ll bet you can’t guess who this is?” Dick answered in a serious tone: “No I cannot, I’m sorry.” His next words were devastating. Dick explained that he has lost his ability to remember any of his friends and colleagues even though he is in reasonable health. We talked for nearly 30 minutes about where we had worked and who we had worked with. Dick could not place me or any of the SAI people that were in our division.

   Then something wonderful happened. He asked if I had seen or talked with Dr. Beyster in the last few years. He told me how working for Bob had made him successful and enabled him to have a wonderful life. To me this is one of the greatest tributes one can give to Bob. My friend Dick remembers him.