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Jerome Fox Lederer "It seems that all my life I have been at war with complacency. Combating complacency is not an easy thing--even when it relates to human life inside an aircraft." The private war of Jerry Lederer has served the public good. He has a boundless record of devoting his energy and talent to the cause of flight safety: in 1940 he became the first Director of the Safety Bureau of the Civil Aeronautics Board, helping to advance the requirements of accident investigation; during the holocaust of World War II he helped train 10,000 pilots and airmen for the Air Transport Command; in 1947 he founded the Flight Safety Foundation and has served as its Managing Director, as well as Director of the Cornell-Guggenheim Aviation Safety Center. "In those early days when we talked safety it was like exploring some unspeakable disease. Maybe the name Flight Safety Foundation was not a wise choice." Lederer says with a touch of pleasure in his sandy voice. The domestic pioneering of FSF took on international meaning when a brilliant program was conceived in 1947, whereby the exchange of safety bulletins and technical data became worldwide. "It has been a long pull. Mind you, 22 years just to double the size of the Exit signs in commercial aircraft." The current Lederer "pull" is a giant one: he serves as Director of Manned Space Flight Safety, NASA. [[image - small drawing of a propeller]] Jerome Fox Lederer: born New York City, September 26, 1902. [[image No. 90 - black & white photograph of Jerry Lederer and two friends in front of Douglas M-1 plane]] [[image No. 91 - black & white photograph of Jerry Lederer and C. R. Smith]] [[caption]]Jerry Lederer, left, and C. R. Smith, former president, American Airlines, and now Secretary of Commerce (91). In front of Douglas M-1, 1927, Lederer, left, and friends from U.S. Air Mail days (90). [[/caption]] 37