William Beller, Golden Owl and designer of the 'Spruce Goose', dies at 95

William Beller, a former Golden Owl member of the NPC, died Nov. 7 at the age of 95 in a hospital in Delray Beach, Fla.

Mr. Beller retired in 1984 as the head of ocean island programs at the Environmental Protection Agency. He was an author and co-author of several books and numerous technical articles and played a role in the creation of several federal agencies.

Born in Cleveland in 1919, Mr. Beller earned a masters degree in aeronautical engineering from New York University in 1942 and was one of the principal designers of the famed Howard Hughes eight-engined "Spruce Goose" transport seaplane that made one brief flight in 1947.

He lectured in mathematics and mechanical engineering at the University of Southern California in the late 1940s before becoming senior editor of Missiles and Rockets magazine and a foreign correspondent for McGraw Hill's Control Engineering.

Mr. Beller joined the NPC after moving to the Washington area in the 1950s. He lived in Bowie and Rockville, Md., before moving to Boynton Beach, Fla., in 2001.

Mr. Beller was appointed a special consultant to the House Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration that helped create the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He had authored "Satellite!," a pioneering book on artificial satellites in 1958.

In 1965 he received Harry Lever Award from the Aviation/Space Writers Association.

While working on the staff of the Secretary of the Interior, he helped write regulations that became part of the Clean Water Act of 1972.

He also had a role in creating the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) while a staffer on the Presidential Commission on Marine, Science, Engineering and Resources. He created the Joint UNESCO-U.S. State Department Directorate for the Caribbean and served as chairman from 1970 to 1990. As chief of the Ocean Islands Programs at EPA, he worked with the governors of Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on protecting their island environments. He also served as the elected chairman of UNESCO's International Committee on Small Islands.

In addition to writing "Satellite!," Mr. Beller co-authored "Skyhooks" (1962), "American Arsenal" (1968) and "Sustainable Development and Environmental Management of Small Islands" (1990).

Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Joan Beller, daughters Nancy Beller Simms, Diane Waschler and Stacy Beller Stryer, and seven grandchildren.