Stanley Platt Lovell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chief of the Research and Development Branch | |
| In office October 17, 1942 –1945 | |
| Appointed by | William J. Donovan |
| Succeeded by | Sidney Gottlieb |
| Liaison Officer of the National Defense Research Committee to the Office of Strategic Services | |
| In office June 13,1942 –1945 | |
| Supervisors | Millard Preston Goodfellow Vannevar Bush |
| Liaison Officer of the National Defense Research Committee to the Office of the Coordinator of Information SA/G | |
| In office 1942 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 29,1890 |
| Died | January 4,1976 (aged 85) |
| Resting place | Hillside Cemetery,Osterville,Barnstable County,Massachusetts |
| Alma mater | Cornell University |
| Awards | Presidential Medal for Merit |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Office of Strategic Services |
| Rank | Chief |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Stanley Platt Lovell,who went by the nickname Professor Moriarty,was an American industrial biochemist and intelligence officer who headed the Research and Development Branch (R&D) of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II,commonly referred to as the "Department of Dirty Tricks." [1] [2] [3]
Before the war began,Lovell already held over 70 patents. [1] At the onset of World War 2,Lovell moved to Washington,D.C. to work underneath Vannevar Bush at the National Defense Research Committee (NRDC). [4] In 1942,he acted as Bush's Liaison Officer to the Special Activities/Goodfellow (SA/G) unit within the Office of the Coordinator of Information,and SA/G Chief Millard Preston Goodfellow. [5]
In the Summer of 1942,he was tapped by William J. Donovan to head the newly established R&D Branch. [1] As head of R&D,he was in charge of many innovations developed by OSS during the war,leading a team of scientists to create some of the most bizare inventions during the war. As head of R&D,he is often thought to be an inspiration for the fictional character Q from the James Bond series,sharing this title with Charles Fraser-Smith from the British Special Operations Executive. [2] Smith and Lovell also collaborated on several devices. Lovell was the lead scientist in charge of the US Government's search for the "T-Drug," the first truth serum experiments undertaken by the US Intelligence Community,instructing George Hunter White to dose Americans with narcotics without their knowledge and to observe their behaviors. [6] [7]
He and his team experimented with a way to kick the Nazis out of North Africa with mounds of manure and infected flies placed in rural villages. [8] The Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr worked with Lovell for a time,inventing a distraction device that came to be known as "The Hedy." Lovell demonstrated The Hedy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff without advanced warning,and they never invited him back. [2] He is credited with the discovery that the Nazis were using heavy water in the process to construct a nuclear bomb. [9] He was one of the primary OSS chiefs responsible for the bat bomb experiments. [10] In 1944,Lovell approved the use of Nerve gas to be deployed on Iwo Jima,but the President vetoed this operation. [11] Lovell invented several devices for the potential assassination of Adolf Hitler,including a crushable tablet containing odorless mustard gas. [11] Lovell and his team invented the time pencil and the Limpet mine. [2] After the war,Lovell became President of the Lovell Chemical Company.