by Phyllis Dicus Roberts
A.W. Dicus with Granddaughter, Phyllis Dicus Roberts
Tennessee Tech recently had their centennial celebration, this is my post at that time:
My mother and father both graduated from Tennessee Tech. My grandfather was head of the physics department in the 1930’s-40’s during WWII. My memories include being on campus around 1945 watching the students in the physic department doing their experiments. I didn’t realize till much later in life what an impact my family had on history. It is said of my grandfather that he sent more scientists to oak ridge during WWII then any other scientist in the country. One of which was my father who had a direct impact on the Manhattan Project. The story goes that he had 6 armed guards come to his work in Knoxville and take him to oak ridge, telling him very little information. but enough information that he could develop part of the ignition for the atom bomb. My dad (David) had finally realized what they where wanting him to do, and when he asked they only smiled in recognition of what he had done. Dad has been gone for over 6 years now. When going through his things, I found a ring given to him by the navy in recognition of his accomplishments. He and his 2 brothers, Em and Jim, each had their own scientific genius and where great successes in their lives.
My grandfather who was head of the physics department retired from Tech and went to Florida Christian College and spent 5 years as dean of the college there. During which time he wrote 24 spiritual hymns and then sold the copyrights. Several songs have become quite popular, one in particular is “Our God, He Is Alive” Famous not only in the United States but in several countries and has been translated to several languages. Recently I’ve had requests from several Christian Colleges to write a History of our family. So I am including Pictures of my grandfather, my dad and access to available Dicus Information. It is with great pride that our family remembers tn tech, and it’s value to our country for the last 100 years. GOD BLESS AMERICA
~Phyllis Dicus Roberts
Aaron Wesley Dicus 