Lundberg (1898-1991)
In recognition of his early efforts in transferring research and technological developments to commercial uses, Utah State University dedicated its Technical Services Building to Logan business person Wilford W. “Chub” Lundberg. Lundberg was honored by then USU President Stanford Cazier at a luncheon when the building was officially named the Wilford W. Lundberg Technical Services Building.
Lundberg was a founder of the Utah Scientific Research Foundation and served as its president from 1943 through 1967. The foundation worked to take ideas and inventions of persons both at USU and off campus and develop them into commercially useful products.
In the current context of economic development through commercialization of university research, Lundberg “was 25 years ahead of the times,” suggested Robert Davis, once director of industrial and professional relations for the College of Engineering at USU. The foundation was a forerunner of such efforts as the current USU Foundation and Innovation Campus.
One successful product helped into production by the Utah Scientific Research Foundation was the oversnow machine now manufactured by Logan Manufacturing Company. It was first developed at USU to transport persons into the mountains to take snow samples. Later it was used in construction of the DEWline radar system for the military in the Arctic. This technology became a commercial venture and the university received royalties for the benefit of the university. A soil sampler and pea harvester were other commercial efforts.
The Utah Scientific Research Foundation’s early work took place in a basement room of Old Main on the Logan campus, but later the Technical Services Building was built through the efforts of Lundberg and another former USU President, E.G. Peterson, to house the work. When the organization was dissolved in 1967 its assets were transferred to USU.
*Note: All bios are current and up-to-date as of Summer 2022.