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Colonel
Anthony J. Mione
Permanent Professor 1966–1974
B.S., United States Military Academy
M.S., North Carolina State University
Ph.D., North Carolina State University
John Mione, the Academy’s 18th Permanent Professor, was born in 1927 in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1949, was commissioned in the Air Force, and was sent to Air Training Command for flight training. He graduated as a pilot in 1950 and was assigned to Tinker AFB, OK, flying the C-47. At that time, the concept of nuclear-powered aircraft was still thought viable, and the Air Force sponsored graduate work for several dozen pilots in order to develop a cadre of aircrew educated in nuclear technology; John Mione was one of those. In 1951 he was sent to North Carolina State College (now University) in Raleigh, where he earned his Master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering in 1953. He then went to the Air Force Materials Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, where he eventually was responsible for all nuclear support activities in the Laboratory. In 1958 John was assigned to HQ Air Research and Development Command, Andrews AFB, MD, to continue work on the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Program. In 1960 and 1961 he was a student at Air Command and Staff College, where he was recognized as a Distinguished Graduate. He returned to North Carolina State in 1961 to pursue his PhD degree in Nuclear Engineering, which was awarded in 1964. John was assigned to the Department of Physics at the United States Air Force Academy in 1963 and was selected as Permanent Professor and Head in 1966. In 1969 John took a sabbatical assignment to the European Office of Aerospace Research, Brussels, Belgium, supporting basic research programs from Europe to India. In 1970 he moved to London when the organization relocated to England. He returned to the Academy in 1971 as Department Head and Chair of the Basic Sciences Division. He led the Physics Department during its dynamic expansion, building a fledging department with no major into a broad-spectrum department with a robust curriculum and research laboratories for lasers, nuclear radiation, and space physics. Throughout his career he maintained active flying status; he was a Command Pilot with time in the C-46, C-47, B-25, and T-29 aircraft. He retired from the Air Force in 1974.
Following retirement, John was named Director of Energy Resources for the General Electric Company. He retired from GE in 1988 as Manager of their Neutron Devices Division Laboratory in Largo, Florida. In retirement, he endowed the A.J. Mione Award, given annually to a cadet for outstanding accomplishment in physics research. He died in 2009 and is buried in the Air Force Academy Cemetery.