James Keith Johnstone, Ph.D. :::
James Keith Johnstone, Ph.D.
Graduated in 1960
Inducted in 1996
After James Keith Johnstone graduated from LT in 1960 he obtained his bachelor's, master's and
doctoral degrees in ceramic engineering from Iowa State In 1970, he joined the Sandia National
Laboratories to work on developing re-entry vehicles and related problems which involved
underground nuclear testing. He turned his attention to the development of materials and
underground storage of commercial nuclear reactor waste. Some of his studies have direct bearing on
the safety of the United States, including his study of the conventional military doctrine, heavy
armor and artillery of the Soviet Union's Red Army and his evaluation of the threat to and the
pre-launch survivability of U.S. Army Lance assets in western Europe. In addition to his laboratory
work, he spent two years in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon as the Science
and Technology Advisory for Conventional Arms Control supporting the implementation of the Treaty
on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe which included numerous interactions with foreign
governments and international agencies. Dr. Johnstone has most recently received national attention
for development of a unique program to record on video and retrieve the perishable experiences and
ideas of retiring nuclear weapon scientists and engineers.