Remembering a mentor

摘要

I had the great honor of knowing and working with Dennis Wilkinson through the early days of INPO and helping to shape it into the great organization it is today. Although I knew of his legendary history in the U.S. Navy's nuclear power program, I had not met Dennis during my career as a naval officer in the submarine service. I completed my naval career in the aftermath of the accident at Three Mile Island and decided to reach out to Dennis as he was staffing up INPO. I called INPO and asked for Admiral Wilkinson. His assistant, Ann Winters, put me right through to him. It was soon clear that while I had not met Dennis, he knew all about me, my career, my family, and so forth. I'm sure that I got no more than 10 words in during that three-minute conversation. Dennis told me what he wanted me to do, when to do it, when I needed to be in Atlanta, etc. It was a short call but, like Dennis, was focused and direct and completely thorough. My decision to join INPO and my desire to work for Dennis were solidified through that first short interaction with him.