General McDermott served as a combat pilot and operations officer of a fighter-bomber group in the European Theater during World War II and as a staff officer in a theater headquarters and in the Pentagon. His combat decorations include the Bronze Star and the Air Medal with five oak leaf clusters; he also was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit. He was appointed by President Eisenhower as the first permanent professor of the United States Air Force Academy in 1957, and as the first permanent Dean of the Faculty in 1959. His promotion to brigadier general that accompanied his appointment as dean made him the youngest general or flag officer on active duty at that time. General McDermott has emerged as a recognized leader in higher education and pioneer in military education. The innovations he introduced in the service academy system of education included the "whole person" concept in selecting cadets and a program of advanced and elective courses to enrich the prescribed curriculum. The concept of using measures of a candidate's moral and leadership attributes as well as physical and mental qualifications for selection was introduced in 1956, for the first time at any service academy. Also in 1956, as another service academy first, General McDermott introduced a comprehensive curriculum enrichment program designed to provide each cadet with a challenge to advance academically as far and as fast as possible, in accordance with the cadet's aptitudes, interests and prior preparation. General McDermott laid the groundwork for the establishment of an Astronautical Research Laboratory and an extension of the enrichment program to include graduate education opportunities for exceptional cadets. He was credited with introducing about 30 academic majors to the Academy and bringing a degree of flexibility to curriculum requirements.
Post-Air Force
McDermott wrote books on finance for service personnel, which attracted the attention of USAA President Charles Cheever and in 1968, McDermott retired from the Air Force to join USAA and become its Chief Executive Officer. Under his leadership, USAA grew from the 16th to the 5th largest insurer of private automobiles in the nation and the nation's 4th largest homeowner insurer. A Washington Post obituary explained: In September 1993 he assumed the position of chairman emeritus. McDermott also played a significant role in the community of San Antonio, Texas. In 1974, he was elected chairman of the Greater San AntonioChamber of Commerce. In 1975, he founded the Economic Development Foundation and served as its chairman until 1980. In the 1980s, he focused on the developing of biotechnology in San Antonio, and founded the Texas Research and Technology Foundation which began development of the Texas Research Park. In the mid-1990s he was chairman of an investor group that purchased the San Antonio Spurs basketball team for $85 million.
Awards and recognition
Testaments to his lifelong interests in education include an elementary school and a Clinical Science Building at the University of Texas Health Science Center which bear his name. A grateful community designated a section of Interstate 10 in Texas running through San Antonio between I-35 outside of Downtown to Loop 1604 as the Robert F. McDermott Freeway in recognition of his many initiatives as a pioneer civic entrepreneur, both in education and economic development. Academic chairs in his honor have been established at the United States Air Force Academy and the United States Military Academy, and the library at the Air Force Academy also bears his name. For his leadership in business, he was selected to the Texas Business Hall of Fame in 1987 and the American National Business Hall of Fame in 1989. In 1993, West Point selected him to receive its Distinguished Graduate Award. In 1994 Fortune selected him as Laureate in Junior Achievement's National Business Hall of Fame. In 1996, the International Insurance Society inducted him into the Insurance Hall of Fame. In 1998, he was awarded the Harvard Business School's highest honor, the Alumni Achievement Award, as a tribute to his accomplishments at the Air Force Academy and USAA. He received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement in June 1999.
