In World War I he did research on aeronautical instruments for the National Bureau of Standards.
In World War II he served as a consultant to the Manhattan Project at Columbia.
From 1947 to 1957 he also worked as scholar for the Naval Engineering Experiment Station at Annapolis, and then retired from government service.
[1][4] He received the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers International Award in 1951.
[5] In 1965 the ASME initiated the annual Mayo D. Hersey award for "distinguished and continued contributions over a substantial period of time to the advancement of the science and engineering of tribology,"[6] and Hersey was named its first recipient.