Joseph V. Charyk papers

Joseph Vincent Charyk (1920- ) was a leader in the development of satellite technology. The son of Ukrainian immigrants, Charyk graduated from the University of Alberta, Canada in 1942 and received his Ph.D in Aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology in 1945. He spend time as an instructor at Princeton University, California Institute of Technology, and specifically at the Cal Tech Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He also worked for Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in the 1950s.

In 1963 in a move to the private sector, Charyk helped found and following incorporation became president and a director of Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT). In 1979, he was elected Chief Executive Officer and then served as Chairman of the Board of Directors from May 1983 until his retirement in October 1985. As Chief Executive Officer, Charyk was responsible for the overall management of the corporation and the chairmanship of the Board of Directors.

In 1973, Charyk was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in recognition of his contributions to space flight. The Intelsat system of commercial telecommunication satellites is used throughout the world.

The Communication Satellite Act of 1962 had as its goal to establish a world-wide commercial communications satellite system with the principal feature being a provision to establish a private corporation in the District of Columbia with the authority with foreign governments and business entities to plan and operate the communications satellite system. President Kennedy gave this charge to a group of appointed incorporators and they founded COMSAT.