Ralph Grayson
Ralph Lawrence Grayson (1921-1991) was a scientist, engineer, pilot, attorney, soldier, father and husband. He was born into poverty, the son of an Arkansas sharecropper. He went on to be a pioneer in network computing at both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NASA.
Early years
Ralph Lawrence Grayson was born April 29, 1921 in Fort Smith, Arkansas; the eldest of eleven children born to Albert Grayson. The first eight children were mothered by Albert's first wife, Pearl Grayson (maiden name, Pearl Agnes Foster, 1895-1934).
NASA
In 1979 Ralph retired from the FAA as Associate Commander, Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center. During this time, NASA made many overtures to recruit him. He initially turned these offers down. He was then approached with a package deal through Battelle, employed as a subcontractor. He accepted.
His title at NASA was Principal Research Scientist, Aviation Safety Reporting, System Project Office located at Moffett Field Naval Air Station in Mountain View, California.
Ralph Grayson was an international calibre expert in the field of aviation safety — human error, redundancy systems, and computerized safety systems. His technical papers written during his final years at the FAA and his time at NASA would become reference material within the field for a generation. Many of both the procedural and technological innovations he brought to the Air Traffic Control system outlived him, and remained in use into the 21st century.
