Ruben Mettler, 82; Headed TRW During Defense Boom
Ruben Mettler, an engineer and scientist who rode the post-World War II defense contract boom to become chairman and chief executive of TRW, has died.
He was 82.
Mettler, who had been in poor health since suffering a stroke two years ago, died May 23 at his Los Angeles home, his family said.
“He was a blazing star at TRW,” Davis Dyer, who wrote the 1998 book “TRW: Pioneering Technology and Innovation Since 1900,” told The Times. “He was at the top of the company during a time of profound change.”
From 1977 to 1988, Mettler successfully juggled TRW’s divergent business interests.
The company’s plants in the eastern United States manufactured industrial and automotive products, and its Redondo Beach office developed electronic, aerospace and information systems technology.
Born Feb. 23, 1924, Ruben Frederick Mettler was one of 10 children Henry and Lydia Mettler reared on a potato farm near the Kern County, Calif., town of Shafter. A bright student, he won a scholarship to Stanford University and studied humanities for a year, intending to become a lawyer.
World War II interrupted his plans. He volunteered for the Navy in 1942 and enrolled in an accelerated military program at Caltech.
“Somebody decided I was an engineer -- not me,” Mettler said many years later.
“That decided it, and I found that I liked it very much.”
Mettler received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Caltech in 1944 and served in the Pacific during the war.
He returned to Caltech for his master’s in 1947 and earned a doctorate in electrical and aeronautical engineering two years later.
He went to work for Hughes Aircraft Co. for five years, focusing on electronic and radar systems, and in 1954 became a consultant to the Department of Defense.
When Mettler joined Ramo-Woolridge Corp. a year later, he worked on ballistic missiles and early space satellite projects.
As Southern California defense contractors were expanding their businesses to meet the federal government’s military program needs, Mettler started to make his way up the administrative ladder.
In 1969, he became president and chief operating officer of TRW, formed a decade earlier when Ramo-Wooldridge merged with Thompson Products.
He became chairman in 1977 and stepped down in 1988 but continued to serve on the board of directors until 1994. Northrop Grumman Corp. acquired TRW in 2002.
Mettler also served as chairman of the board of trustees at Caltech from 1985-93.
He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Donna; sons Matthew of Arcadia and Daniel of Northridge; a grandson, a brother and three sisters.
Services will be private.
