Description
Harvey Newquist was born in Racine, Wisconsin, 1932. He studied mechanical and industrial engineering at Notre Dame, where his true interest lay in manufacturing operations, due to his father’s having managed a foundry that made parts for Sherman tanks during WWII. After graduation, Newquist worked at GE before being drafted into the Army during the Korean War, working as a field engineer on Nike missile sites in Virginia, where he was first exposed to computers. Newquist continued on at GE’s Light Military Electronics Division in Utica, NY in 1957, where he worked on the Sidewinder missile program and antisubmarine warfare. Newquist remained at GE for seven years, rising to a management position for a carrier-based early warning system called Hawkeye. In 1964, Newquist joined Computer Control Company (3C) in Framingham, Massachusetts, managing manufacturing quality control for its DDP series of minicomputers, including after its acquisition by Honeywell. After five years, Newquist was offered a promotion to run all of Honeywell’s computer manufacturing operations, but turned it down in order to join the newly formed Data General as its director of manufacturing, as well as running personnel and field service, after being impressed with their Nova minicomputer prototype. Newquist created an industry-leading manufacturing operation for the Nova. Newquist often walked around the plant speaking with the assemblers (mostly women), many of whom were personally hired by him in the early years. Newquist had agreed with his wife Pat that he would take the Data General job initially with a five-year timetable, and after a successful five years and having made excellent gains from stock options, and having some disputes with the other Data General founders over the future direction of the company, Newquist retired in 1972 at age 40 to help Pat raise his family of eight children, moving to Phoenix, Arizona. Before leaving, Newquist recommended to Data General the hiring of his former colleague at 3C, Gardner Hendrie. For the next ten years, Newquist would do some manufacturing consulting work for computer startups, including and several Asian startups, and later Hadco Corporation (a former manufacturing contractor of Data General making circuit boards), where Newquist joined the Board of Directors. In retirement, Newquist has contributed his efforts to giving back to the community, including involvement with the university in Phoenix, local hospitals, and the Catholic Church.
Date
2018-10-23
Participants
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Hendrie, Gardner, Interviewer
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Newquist, Harvey, Interviewee
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Publisher
Computer History Museum
Place of Publication
Denver, CO, USA
Duration
01:00:00
Format
MOV
Category
Oral history
Collection Title
CHM Oral History Collection
Credit
Computer History Museum
