Dr. Thomas Edward Daniels, Jr. was born to Thomas Edward Daniels, Sr. and Jennie Floyd (Parks) Daniels on November 12, 1926 in Ravenna, Kentucky.

At the age of 3, his family moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where they lived in a number of sections within the city over a period of years. His attending school was determined by where in the city he lived at those times.

Dr. Daniels attended Phyllis Wheatley Elementary School until he was 12 years of age; Madison Junior High where he graduated 5th in his class; and Central Colored High School where he graduated 2nd in his class, in Jan 1944.  While in high school he was on the school paper staff, worked in the library, was active in the Sunday school and the boy scouts, and was 7th string on the football team.

While in the 11th grade, his father passed, impacting his life greatly. Also in high school, he took tests to qualify for the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP). Enlisting in the Army's Specialized Training Reserve Program (ASTRP) he was sent to Prairie View A & M College for initial training in engineering.

In the 1940's Dr. Daniels was selected to participate in the Army Specialized Training Reserve Program as a part of the Enlisted Reserve. While participating, he attended Prairie View A & M College; University of Iowa; Kansas University and Syracuse University.

Next he enrolled in basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama and eventually was assigned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky.  After completion of basic training, he went back into the Army Specialized Training Program at the University of Maine in Prano, Maine for the next 6 months. To show the level and intensity of the program, he received 3 years credit for engineering when he got out of the service and went back to the University of Iowa to get his engineering degree in 1948. He spent one year at Louisville Municipal College of the University of Louisville from 1946 to 1947 and then back to the University of Iowa under the G.I. bill. If you were Black you could not get an engineering degree in Kentucky. Few G.I.'s knew about the ASTP.

During World War II the U.S. Army ran the single biggest college education program in the nation's history.  During its short existence, counting its reserve component (ASTRP), the program sent more than 200, 000 soldiers to some 227 colleges to take highly sped-up courses in various branches of engineering, medicine, dentistry, personnel psychology and 34 different foreign languages. Massive arrivals of young ASTPers almost changed many campuses into Army reservations.

After graduation from the University of Iowa, he went to Texas to get married to Maxine Harris in August 1948. He was offered a job as an engineering instructor at Prairie View A&M. He taught math and engineering for 2 years and designed and installed the electrical engineering laboratory.

In August 1950, he moved with his family to New Jersey and then to New York in search of a job as an electrical engineer as there were no jobs for Blacks in engineering except at the University. He got a job at Fort Monmouth in the Specification and Drafting branch at Camp Evans in Wall Township.

For the next 35 years he progressed through the ranks from a bench engineer to the Director of a major research and development laboratory. He worked 9 to 10 hour days and went to school because he found out that he could use education to advance his knowledge of engineering since he could not depend upon only one promotion to get experience.

In 1976 he was selected to attend the Industrial College of the Air Forces (ICAF) for one year. This training was graduate level for those whose potential as for "flag" and general officers or senior executive service for civilians. He completed this program successfully.

This investment in time on the job and going to school propelled him from a bench engineer to a team leader, branch chief and project manager to laboratory director. He was selected to go to the Pentagon as assistant executive of space.

During those years he received many citations for excellence in engineering and management. In fact, he received 10 straight, annual Outstanding Performance Ratings and 3 Commander's Awards.

Dr. Daniels retired from the Department of the Army as a Space Technology Executive after thirty-eight years of exceptional, meritorious service. Thirty- five years of this time was spent at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey and at Camp Evans. Dr. Daniels was the Deputy Director as well as the Director of the Combat Surveillance and Target Acquisition Laboratory.

He was the second African American Director of a major Army research and development laboratory. He is a recognized technical and management specialist with expertise in systems development, systems integration, digital computers, electronic warfare systems, navigation systems, satellite systems, ground surveillance radars, nuclear radiation detection, identification friend - or - foe equipment and meteorological data systems.

In 1966, Dr. Daniels was inducted into the University of Iowa's College of Engineering, Distinguished Engineering Alumni Academy. In addition, he holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration from Monmouth University.  In 2001 he was granted an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Monmouth University.

Dr. Daniels' many professional awards include: two Aviation Research and Development Commander's Awards, Secretary of the Army Award for Outstanding Achievement in Equal Employment Opportunity, Department of the Army Exceptional Civilian Service Award and The Meritorious Civilian Service Award. He has also received a Distinguished Service Award by his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi.

Dr. Daniels has been a member of the Institute of Navigation, the Army Aviation Association of America, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Defense Preparedness Association and the Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association. He has published numerous articles and papers on air traffic control, navigation, electronic warfare systems and radar systems.

Dr. Daniels was predeceased by his daughter, Danita E. Holmes.  He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Maxine Loreat; children, Michael Edward (Lisa), Karen Elizabeth, Kevin Earl (KayKay), Daryl Edwin, Larrick Edson, and Raun Edmund; over thirty grandchildren; great grandchildren; and a great great grandchild.