June 16, 2011
FBA Past National President Paul G. Dembling, co-author of the legislation that founded NASA, died on Monday, May 16, 2011, in Florida. He was 91 years old. As general counsel to NASA’s precursor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), Dembling helped shape the agency’s legislative charter, the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. After NASA became operational, he joined the staff, eventually becoming the agency’s general counsel. He also managed the agency’s Legislative Affairs Office under Administrator James Webb, and served as a deputy associate administrator before retiring in December 1969. Dembling was born in Rahway, N.J., on Jan. 11, 1920. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1940 and a master’s degree in 1942 from Rutgers University, and earned a J.D. from George Washington University Law School, where he served as an editor of the law review. Dembling was a member of the FBA for more than 50 years and served in numerous leadership positions including national president (1982-1983). He also served as the president of the Capitol Hill Chapter; chair of the Government Contracts Section; chair of the General Counsels Section; treasurer of the Federal Bar Building Corporation, and editor in chief of the Federal Bar Journal. Paul was a a Charter Life Fellow of the Foundation of the FBA, and in 2003, he was the recipient of the FBA’s Earl W. Kintner Distinguished Service Award. Dembling was buried May 19 in Fairfax, Va. He is survived by his wife, Florence Dembling, two sons, Ross and Doug, both living in Washington’s Maryland suburbs, and two grandsons.