John L. McLucas, 82; Was Secretary of Air Force, FAA Chief
John L. McLucas, 82, former secretary of the Air Force and head of the Federal Aviation Administration during the 1970s, died Sunday in Alexandria, Va., after a prolonged battle with heart problems.
Appointed undersecretary of the Air Force in 1969, McLucas served under Presidents Nixon and Ford as Air Force secretary from 1973 to 1975, and then as FAA administrator until 1977. He previously worked at the Defense Department and was assistant secretary general for scientific affairs at NATO headquarters.
McLucas, a native of Fayetteville, N.C., graduated from Davidson College in 1941. He received a master’s degree in physics from Tulane University in 1943, then was a Navy officer during World War II. He earned his doctorate in physics from Penn State in 1950.
Most recently, McLucas was board chairman of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation, which develops communications projects and awards grants to scholars in space-related sciences.
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