PASSINGS: George A. Roberts

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George A. Roberts

Helped transform Teledyne Corp.

George A. Roberts, 93, who was a pioneer in the field of steel manufacturing and helped turn the Southern California-based Teledyne Corp. into a Fortune 500 firm, died Feb. 15 of heart failure at a Dallas hospital, his family said.

Trained as a metallurgist, Roberts became president of Teledyne in 1966 when the Pennsylvania company he ran was merged with Teledyne, which was founded by his friend Henry E. Singleton.

At Teledyne, Roberts helped expand the industry for specialty metals, which are heavily used in the aerospace and electronics sectors. Singleton served as chairman of the company until 1991, when Roberts assumed the title until he retired two years later.

He also helped establish early U.S. production facilities for the manufacture of powdered steel alloys, which rely on pressure instead of heat.

George Adam Roberts was born Feb. 18, 1919 in Point Marion, Pa. After high school, he enrolled in the U.S. Naval Academy, where he met Singleton. Two years later Roberts transferred to what is now Carnegie Mellon University and earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering and, in 1942, a doctorate in metallurgy.

He started out as a metallurgist at the Vanadium Alloys Steel Corp. and rose to president of the Pennsylvania company in 1961 before it merged with Teledyne.

Roberts had donated $8 million to Carnegie Mellon to establish the George A. Roberts Engineering Hall.

—Times staff and wire reports

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