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Orpha (Ron) CunninghamManaging Partner, Principal and Founder
Research in the Air Force covered corrosion prevention in jet engines and the development of new techniques for separation of radioactive isotopes from nuclear debris. He also put these techniques into practice on a production basis. At the Defense Atomic Support Agency, he worked closely with Los Alamos, Livermore and Sandia Corporation on requirements for and technical aspects of nuclear weapon design. He was a consultant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Cuban Missile Crisis and wrote the definitive (at that time) study on comparison of the US and Soviet weapons programs. At the Defense Intelligence Agency, he worked closely with CIA, NSA and other intelligence agencies on National Intelligence Estimates of foreign missile and weapons programs. He was also an ex-officio member of the DIA Scientific Intelligence Advisory Committee and the President’s Foreign Intelligence Board. At Air Force Systems Command he was head of the Weapons Division, overseeing the activities, programs and budgets of two major Air Force Laboratories. He was one of two Colonels who developed a new program for High Energy Laser Weapons. Presentation to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force resulted in approval of forty million dollars, which funded the beginning of the current laser ABM program. His last Air Force assignment was as Commander and Director of the Air Force Weapons Laboratory in Albuquerque, NM, responsible for the complete activities of 1500 scientists, engineers and support personnel with a budget of 300+ million dollars. During his three years there, the first high-energy laser was installed in an aircraft which then shot down air-to-air missiles, the first aircraft was hit and destroyed by a laser from the ground, the Daisy Cutter bomb (used in Afghanistan) was developed, the first Air Force super-computer was procured, brought on line and used for research. Other advances were made in civil engineering, plasma physics, environmental studies, etc. Leaving the Air Force, he joined R&D Associates, an offshoot of RAND Corporation, and conducted research in response and capabilities of military crews under extreme stress. As Vice President he led the move from small consulting contracts to large competitive contracts, completely changing the culture of the company. Over the next few years, RDA changed from a base of 95% sole source contracts averaging 100 thousand dollars each to 90+% competitive contracts with contract values up to 120 million dollars. Logicon purchased RDA and he assumed the role of bridge between the two cultures. As Vice President, he was a member of the top management council, helped review Logicon programs, was in charge of new program development for RDA (as a Logicon subsidiary), reviewed new program development in other Logicon divisions and managed R&D programs in simulation and modeling, advanced software development and advanced materials such as synthetic diamond production. He retired from Logicon in 1997, and joined with other senior executives to found the Zazi Forum in 2002. Mr. Cunningham has a BS Degree in Chemistry from West Virginia University, an MBA degree from the University of Connecticut (R&D Management Option) and graduate work in Metallurgy at Ohio State University. |
