During World War II, he took leave of absence from Yale to become director of field operations for the Office of Scientific Research and Development and the family moved to Cambridge, MA.

Besides his scientific talents, he was an accomplished musician, revealing his sense of humor by walking the corridors of the National Science Foundation playing his bagpipes.

An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Waterman canoed the rivers and lakes of northern Maine during extensive summer trips in the 1930s and 1940s.

The American people mourn the passing of a foremost man of science and of human purpose, Dr. Alan T. Waterman.

As chief scientist of the Office of Naval Research and as first director of the National Science Foundation, he left an indelible stamp of achievement on one of the most vital areas of American life.

[15]Leland John Haworth also paid his respects in his statement: It was with deep sadness that I learned of the death of Alan Waterman.

When Alan Waterman took the helm of the fledging agency in 1951, few in Government recognized the importance of basic research in the total spectrum of the Nation's scientific and technological enterprise.

Alan Waterman was one of those few; His work at the Office of Naval Research had already established that agency's leadership in providing financial support for basic American science.