Merle Anthony Tuve (June 27, 1901 – May 20, 1982) was an American geophysicist who was the Chairman of the Office of Scientific Research and Development's Section T, which was created in August 1940.
[2] He was a pioneer in the use of pulsed radio waves whose discoveries opened the way to the development of radar and nuclear energy.
[5] In 1925, with physicist Gregory Breit, Tuve used radio waves to measure the height of the ionosphere and probe its interior layers.
[8] Tuve proposed that an electronically activated proximity fuze would make anti-aircraft fire far more effective, and led the team of scientists that developed the device, which proved crucial in the allies' victory in World War II.
[9][10] In 1942, Merle Tuve was the founding director of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
[12] For his service to the nation during World War II, Tuve received the Presidential Medal for Merit from President Harry S. Truman and was named an Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1948.