Morgan Sparks, who was director of Sandia National Laboratories from 1972 to 1981 and was a longtime civic leader in Albuquerque, died Saturday at his daughter's home in Fullerton, Calif., at the age of 91, according to a Sandia Labs news release.

"Morgan Sparks set a high standard for the professional, efficient management of Sandia National Labs," Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said in a news release. "He recognized the future need to channel lab science into technology transfer, and he laid the groundwork to link defense-based research to applications that now impact our lives every day."

Sparks was born in 1916 in Pagosa Springs, Colo., and was raised in Texas, according to the Sandia obituary.

He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry at Rice University and earned a Ph.D in physical chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1943, the obit said.

Sparks began his long tenure with the Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1943, working on batteries for naval torpedoes at Bell's Electrochemical Research Department, then moving on to Bell's new Semiconductor Research Group in 1948 just as the group was about to announce the invention of the first transistor.

During the 1950s, `60s and early `70s, Sparks rose through several management positions at Bell Labs and the Western Electric Company, the manufacturing arm of parent company AT&T, which managed Sandia Labs.

After his retirement from Sandia in 1981, Sparks served as dean of the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico from 1981 to 1984.

In Albuquerque, Sparks also served as chairman of the United Way, the Police Commission Task Force and helped in the fight to protect Kirtland Air Force Base from closure, and he served on boards at Presbyterian and Lovelace hospitals, the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and Albuquerque Academy.

Until 2007, he was president of High Desert Investment Corp., developers of the High Desert and Mariposa communities, according to the obituary.

His wife of 57 years, Elizabeth MacEvoy Sparks, died in 2006, and he is survived by their four children, Margaret Potter of Waitsfield, Vt.; Gordon Sparks, also of Waitsfield; Patricia Fusting of Fullerton, Calif.; and Morgan Sparks of Burlington, Vt.

A memorial service will be held in Albuquerque later this month. 

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