Significant Sig Richard S. Leghorn '39

Richard S. Leghorn '39 was awarded the prestigious Significant Sig status by the Sigma Chi International Fraternity in 2007 for his numerous life achievements. The Significant Sig award recognizes "those alumni members whose achievements in their fields of endeavor have brought honor and prestige to the name of Sigma Chi."

After graduating from MIT with a degree in Physics, Brother Leghorn began his career at Eastman Kodak in Rochester, NY.

Six months before Pearl Harbor he volunteered to serve as an officer of the then Army Air Corp in research and development at Wright Field, Ohio. He subsequently served as a combat reconnaissance pilot for the D-Day invasion at Normandy and through the campaigns until V-E Day, ending as group commander supporting the First Army's march across France, Belgium, and into East Germany.

Although he flew most combat missions at high altitudes to avoid if possible enemy flak and fighters, he used his background in technology to modify aircraft for taking detailed pictures flying "on the deck" over the beaches of Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Rhine. After encountering intense enemy fire during the Battle of the Bulge he was awarded the Silver Star, the Army's highest military award, for taking critically important photographs and successfully returning to base with an engine on fire and 58 anti-aircraft hits.

Subsequently he led aerial photographic and instrumentation flights to record effects of the first atomic tests at Bikini Island. After proposing what became the U-2 program for overflying the USSR, he was recalled to active duty during the Korean War. In 1951 he participated in planning and after executing the US reconnaissance satellite program, of which one mission successfully returned to Earth ahead of the Soviets the first item -- a can with film intact.

Late in the 1950s and during the 1960s, Brother Leghorn became deeply involved with public policy related to national security, arms control, and disarmament. He was a significant contributor to Eisenhower's "Open Skies" initiative, advisor the President for the Geneva Surprise Attack Conference, and other defense and disarmament initiatives. Most recently he was inducted into the Space Hall of Fame at the Space and Missile Command of the Air Force.

Over his more senior years he has started and helped managed a number of technologically innovative companies. He has been recognized as the principal founder and organizing President of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. in Colorado. This R&D consortium, of which he now serves as Director Emeritus, is recognized as one of the most successful in the country.

Brother Leghorn also: