Page 12 - Chalcogenide Glasses for Infrared Optics

Acknowledgments

hen you read this book describing my 50 years’ experience,
you will find the applied research process is not flawless.
WBad choices and false starts I made are identified. But when
it came to choosing with whom I was going to share my life, I was
dead on. My wife, Madora Pauline Bull Hilton, of 58 years has been
in my corner, on my side every step of the way, through the years in
college, followed by service in the Air Force, and graduate school
while raising three children on the G.I. Bill. A few people influenced
me as I pursued this path in life. We had help from John Beckham,
the business manager of the chemistry department, and I taught
freshman labs under Dr. Tom Burkhalter and finally received a
research fellowship via Dr. Albert Jache, my senior adviser, who also
taught me the love of research. We finally finished in 1959, there was
one more oil company job in Houston, and then it was off to a good-
paying job at Texas Instruments in Dallas in 1960.
Texas Instruments was a great place to work. The colleagues who
helped me most were Charlie Jones, Harold Hafner, and Dr. George
Cronin. Technicians were Jimmie Parker and Joyce Jones. In 1974,
after 14 years in the TI CRL, 5 years as a senior scientist, I left to
manage the infrared glass production in the EO Division. The
production of the glasses had become very important. I soon realized
there was a need for a second source of the glass, a unique opportunity
for me. Like many, I had always wanted to run my own company. In
1977 when I told Madora what I wanted to do, she said go ahead,
since it has always been your dream. I will join the company, she said,
but I will still need time to be with my children and grandchildren.
So I left TI in March 1977, borrowed some money from a bank,
using land we owned as collateral, and accepted stockholders. We
started in a small rented building. Our first employee was Glen
Whaley, a master glass blower from TI. His son, Greg Whaley, and
our oldest son, Ray Hilton, Jr., worked part-time while still going to
school. Glen’s friend Mitchell Jones was our first technician. Our
oldest daughter, Gail Hanna, soon joined us as a technician followed
by James McCord from TI. AMI has been in operation 32 years, and
our son is now president. Greg Whaley is vice president and director

xi