William McGill Vaden

William McGill Vaden, age 99, died peacefully on July 31, 2020, at home with his loving wife by his side. Born April 30, 1921, in Emory Gap (Roane County), Tennessee to parents Wirt Hathen and Epsie Ledbetter Vaden, he grew up in Monterey, Tennessee, where he completed his early schooling. Preceding him in death, in addition to his parents, were his brother Murrell C. Vaden and his sister Lucy Dunn (Jack) of Monterey, brother Jake Alton Vaden and wife Mildred of Portland, Oregon, and his brother Vernon Vaden and wife Laura of Nashville, Tennessee. In 1939, he enrolled at Tennessee Polytechnic Institute (now Tennessee Tech University (TTU)). When War II was declared, he enlisted in the US Navy on September 21, 1942, and was discharged on January 3, 1946, having served in both the European and Pacific theaters. He immediately reentered TTU upon returning home and was graduated in 1947. Surviving him in Oak Ridge is his wife of more than 51 years, Maxine. McGill (as he was known by family and intimate friends), was married in 1968 to Maxine DeBerry of Bloomington Springs, Tennessee. Also surviving him locally are nieces Jane Gibson and Claudia (Lynn) Simpson. Immediate family survivors are brothers and their wives Tommy (Serrena) and Larry (Fran) all of Nashville and Ted (Anna) of Monterey. Also surviving him are many treasured nieces and nephews and their families living across the country. An Oak Ridger since 1947, Mr. Vaden began his employment with the Atomic Energy Commission’s (AEC) Technical Information Division (now the Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI)), and his federal work career was centered almost entirely within the scientific and technical information programs of AEC, the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), and the Department of Energy (DOE). Earliest of his AEC assignments was supervising a composing group established to produce book publication copy for the McGraw-Hill Book Company, an on-site, security-controlled contract group selected by the AEC to publish the technical account of the nation’s war-time atomic bomb development (the 70-volume National Nuclear Energy Series). In May 1951, Mr. Vaden accepted a position of assistant chief of the McGraw-Hill contract group that was restructured to include the classified preparation and dissemination of research reports resulting from US organizations involved in nuclear bomb testing, including Pacific Ocean sites. In July 1955, he returned to federal civil service with the AEC, and in January 1961 was appointed deputy manager of Technical Information Center (TIC), a position he held until his retirement. Upon completion of 38 years federal service in January 1985, he retired from the DOE but continued to assist in scientific information projects. Alongside his federal service, Mr. Vaden was also recognized for his work within national and international energy-related technical information communities. In 1968, he was appointed US delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to serve on a study team established to design the Vienna-based International Nuclear Information System (INIS). In 1974, he was named US representative to assist in implementing the International Energy Agency (IEA) Coal Research Technical Information Service (London) and the Biomass Information Service (Dublin), organizations of the International Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (Paris). In 1985, he accepted a US assignment to aid the Egyptian government in outlining a plan for a technical information program likely to result from the development of a commercial nuclear power program under consideration by Egypt. His assignment was completed in September 1985. From July 1987 to November 1992, as a DOE consultant, he assisted in the design, development, and management of a 15 nation International Energy Agency technology data exchange program of the COED to be centered at OSTI. Concurrent with this assignment he was also requested to produce a history of the TIC (1947-1977). Publication of “The Oak Ridge Technical Information Center: A Trailblazer in Federal Documentation” was completed in November 1992. Other journal articles, documents, and book contributions bear his authorship. At the request of the Chairman, US Congressional Joint Committee on Printing, Mr. Vaden served on an ad hoc committee (1983-1984) created to investigate federal data bases as information potentials for domestice depository libraries. In August 1979, DOE Secretary James R. Schlesinger awarded Mr. Vaden the DOE’s Meritorious Service Award for outstanding duty performance. In recognition of outstanding federal service, he also received the DOE Distinguished Career Service Award in December 1984. In 2011, he was named TTU Alumni Association’s College of Arts and Sciences Alumnus of the Year. Bill was a long-time member of the First Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge becoming a member in 1956 and at the time of his death he was their oldest member. His chief forms of recreation and relaxation were reading, gardening, and traveling with Maxine. A graveside service will be held at 11 am on August 5 at Oak Ridge Memorial Park with Rev. Sharon Youngs and Rev. Bob Cantrell officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions might be made to the McGill and Maxine DeBerry Vaden Scholarship Endowment Fund, Tennessee Tech University, Box 1915, Cookeville, TN 38505. Weatherford Mortuary is handling the arrangements.