On 19 June 1987, the access highway to AEDC was renamed Wattendorf Memorial Highway in honor of Dr. Frank L. Wattendorf, a distinguished engineer and scientist and a pioneer in the development of aeronautical technology. The concepts that led to the creation of the Arnold Engineering Development Center grew from his foresight, wisdom, and dedication. In the closing days of World War II, as a founding member of General “Hap” Arnold's scientific advisory group, he inspected captured test facilities that had supported Germany's major technological advances in aircraft and missiles. On his way home, he wrote his “trans-Atlantic memo,” proposing a new test center to guarantee preeminent U.S. airpower, and that proposal became the blueprint for AEDC.