Joseph Cornish III

Family-Placed Death Notice

CORNISH, Joseph, III JOSEPH JENKINS CORNISH III Joseph Jenkins Cornish III, a resident of Marietta, Georgia and a retired executive of Lockheed Martin Corporation, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, January 3, 2012, at Tranquility Hospice Center in Austell, Georgia. A private Military Memorial Service was held at Georgia Memorial Park on January 6, 2012. Dr. Cornish was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. After graduating from high school, he attended Louisiana State University for a year before enlisting in the United States Marine Corps at age 17. The Marine Corps was and would remain one of the most significant aspects of his life. After serving three years of active service as a navigator/bombardier, Cornish returned to LSU where he received his BS in Mechanical Engineering. During this time, he married his childhood sweetheart, lifelong friend, and wife of 65 years, Grace Pollard Cornish. His love of aerodynamics started very early and continued for most of his life. Cornish continued his studies at Mississippi State University earning a Masters and PhD in Aeronautical Engineering. Cornish performed experimental and theoretical research on control of turbulent boundary layers, participated in a number of drag-reduction programs, flight tests of aircraft, and designed the high-lift system for the MA-18. He eventually became head of the Aerophysics Department at MSU. Cornish continued research related to all aspects of flight. He wrote and published studies on anything related aerodynamic flow- planes, gliders, hot air balloons, blimps, race cars, boomerangs, birds, flying squirrels, insects and even seeds. His quest for knowledge never ceased, hence he was an honored speaker, sharing his knowledge, in some 55 countries around the world. Though his expertise in aeronautical engineering was noted worldwide, it was particularly noticed by Lockheed Georgia Company in Marietta, Georgia. In 1964, Cornish became the Associate Director of Research, Aerospace Sciences at the Lockheed Georgia Company. He eventually became Vice President of Engineering at Lockheed Georgia and then Vice President of the Lockheed Corporation in Burbank, California. During his career at Lockheed, Cornish worked on special projects for the government, assisted NASA and the space shuttle program, and was responsible for fifteen aerodynamic modification patents. Dr. Cornish's love of knowledge seemed to have no limits. During the 70's and 80's he studied and received degrees in Psychology from the University of West Georgia, Business Administration from the Lockheed Management Institute at the University of Southern California, Advanced Management from Harvard Business School, and Medical and Dental Hypnosis from the American Institute of Hypnosis. Cornish was a licensed hypnotist and a registered astrologer with the American Federation of Astrologers. Throughout his career, Dr. Cornish served on the VERTOL Engineering Advisory Board, the U.S. Army Transportation Corps Advisory Panel, The Aerodynamics Committee for the American Helicopter Society, Fluid Dynamics Committee for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Advisory Boards of the University of Florida and the University of Tennessee Space Institute. Dr. Cornish presented numerous invited lectures and papers at various universities, colleges, and professional organizations including California Institute, University of Missouri, Louisiana State University, Cambridge University (England), Technische Hochschule Stuttgart (Germany), the United States Military Academy, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the NATO Advisory Group for Aeronautical Research and Development. He was a member of Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, Omicron Delta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Sigma Gamma Tau, and was a registered Professional Engineer in numerous states. Dr. Cornish had approximately 30 publications on subjects within the aerospace field principally concerning boundary layers and high lift. In addition, he was author of more than 30 research reports published by Mississippi State University and the Lockheed-Georgia Company, as well as numerous articles published in Natural History Magazine, Flying Magazine, Scientific American, Science Digest, Sports Car, Graphic Magazine, and other journals. In spite of Dr. Cornish's extremely impactful professional life, he found time to be an active participant in numerous Civil War reenactments around the south, and most notably the last reenactment at Gettysburg with some 3000 volunteers. He was president of MENSA and a member of the Greater Atlanta Marine Corps Council. He was a third degree Mason and a life member of the Masonic Temple of Amazonense in Brazil, a Knight Templar of the York Rite and a Nobel of the Mystic Shrine, Hamasa Temple. He was also a member of ten different heritage societies and organizations including the Society of the War of 1812, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Military Order of the Stars and Bars, and the Colonial and Antebellum Bench and Bar, 1565-1861. Joe Cornish lived an extraordinary personal and professional life touching the lives of many throughout the world. He was an author, an artist, a scientist, a philosopher, and an explorer ñ a true Renaissance man. Those who knew him were always intrigued by his knowledge but more importantly by his humor. His knack of storytelling was profound and he could keep listeners engaged for hours as they learned about his tales of travel and adventure. He loved to play the guitar and sing and then turn around and recite scripture from the Bible. He lived to create things by hand in his workshop and could tool crafts from "nothing" that turned out to be works of art. He was truly a phenomenal man who will be missed by many. Dr. Cornish is survived by his wife, Grace Pollard Cornish, his three children, Joseph Jenkins Cornish IV and wife Diann, Catherine Cornish Colton, and Charlotte Cornish Simmons, his younger brother, John Hereford Cornish of Arlington, Virginia, eleven grandchildren and twelve great grandchildren. For those who wish to remember Dr. Cornish, the family has requested that a donation be made to the Wounded Warrior Project (PO Box 758516, Topeka, Kansas, 6675) or WellStar Community Hospice (4040 Hospital West Drive, Austell, Georgia, 30106).