Early Projects and Goals
They initially created the company to commercialize the klystron and develop other technologies, such as small linear accelerators to generate photons for external beam radiation therapy. They also were very interested in nuclear magnetic resonance technology.
One of Varian Associates' major contracts in the 1950s was to create a fuse for the atomic bomb. The Varian brothers had initially been supportive of military applications for the klystron and other technologies, on the grounds that they were primarily defensive weapons. This contract, however, was different. Although politically progressive to the point of having socialist leanings, the Varians were patriotic at heart and had no sympathy for the Marxist model of socialism practiced by the Soviet Union. They also needed military contracts to survive and relished the technical challenges of this sort of work, but as early as 1958 Russell and Sigurd expressed regret for their involvement in the development of weapons of mass destruction.
Most of the founders of Varian Associates, had progressive political leanings, and the company "pioneered profit-sharing, stock-ownership, insurance, and retirement plans for employees long before these benefits became mandatory". Nearly 50 years later, in 1997, the company was still recognized by Industry Week as one of the best-managed companies in America. Among their early employees was bookkeeper Clara Jobs, mother of Steve Jobs.
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