Dr.
John Paul Stapp
Class of 1991
Background:
Col. John Paul Stapp was born July 11, 1910, Bahia, Brazil,
to Baptist missionaries from Texas. He was taught at home
until 1922. He graduated from San Marcos (Texas) Baptist Academy
in 1927. He received his B.A. in zoology and chemistry in
1931, and his M.A. in 1932, from Baylor University. He received
his Ph.D. in biophysics in 1940 from the University of Texas
and his M.D. from the University of Minnesota Medical School
in 1944. He took several courses in military medicine and
was a flight surgeon at Army Air Service bases from 1944-46.
Diplomat, American Board of Preventive Medicine, 1955. D.Sc.
(Hon), Baylor University, 1956. D.Sc. (Hon) New Mexico State
University, 1980.
Professional
Experience:
Col. Stapp served as captain, MC, industrial medical officer
and flight surgeon at Tinker AFB, 1946; project officer or
chief at several Army Air Service research laboratories; Col.
USAF, Chief, Aeromedical Field Lab, Holloman AFB, 1957; chief
scientist, Aerospace Medical Division, Brooks AFB, 1960; chief
flight surgeon, USAF, 1962; Accident Pathology, Armed Forces
Institute of Pathology, 1965; Detached Service, Department
of Transportation, chief scientist, Highway and Traffic Safety,
1967. Col. Stapp retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1970.
He served as a consultant for the Department of Transportation
from 1970-72 and as USC adjunct professor (1972-74) and professor
(1975) at the Institute of Safety and System Management. He
wrote numerous original papers on medical and aerospace medical
research.
Career
Highlights:
Col. Stapp received international recognition and numerous
awards for his safety research initiatives and the personal
risks he accepted to develop basic data on human tolerance
to impact forces on occupants of aircraft involved in accidents.
This information has been used for the design of ejection
seats and escape capsules fitted on subsonic, supersonic,
hypersonic aircraft and space ballistic air-flight, air transport
and ground vehicles. The effects of windblast were also determined.
The research was performed on high speed rocket driven sleds
and in flights of jet military aircraft with canopy removed.
From 1947
to 1954 Col. Stapp volunteered for 29 rocket sled deceleration
and windblast experiments, sustaining an average of 25 g decelerations
with 40 g peaks while stopping in 1.4 seconds from a velocity
of 632 miles per hour. In the last one of these experiments
he incurred wrist fractures, rib fractures, retinal hemorrhages
at various times but no permanent disability or sustained
loss of consciousness. He believed that the information on
human tolerance limits was worth the risks. In 1955 he received
the USAF Cheney Award for Valor. Other military awards are
the DSM and Legion of Merit, both with Oak Leaf Clusters.
The Society
of Automotive Engineers sponsors annually the well-known and
very productive Stapp Car Crash Conference to promote the
continued research and adoption of Dr. Stapp's concepts of
crash survival to the automotive industry. In 1972 Dr. Stapp
received an award from the American Association for Automotive
Medicine for his contributions to Automotive Safety. In 1954
he received the Flight Safety Foundation Award for contributions
to air transport safety. He was elected to the Space Hall
of Fame and the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
