Wells Kormann; Leader in Talking Books
Wells Bradford Kormann, 51, a division chief of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped whose responsibilities encompassed the development of a new digital talking book, died of cancer April 29 at his home in Bethesda. At the National Library Service, which is a part of the Library of Congress, Mr. Kormann served for the past 10 years as chief of the materials development division. During his tenure, he chaired the National Library Service's Digital Audio Development Executive Committee, which has been planning for the transfer of audio books from analog tape masters to digital technology. He was also instrumental in the expansion of a national volunteer project in which engineers from the Telephone Pioneers of America and General Electric Elfuns repair playback machines and other equipment distributed by the National Library Service to blind, visually impaired and physically disabled people. (Photo caption: Wells Bradford Kormann, center, with Frank Kurt Cylke, director of NLS, and Kitty Kormann, his wife.)Mr. Kormann, an engineer by training, oversaw key functions of the National Library Service, which operates through a network of more than 130 libraries. Those services included the publication, selection and cataloging of books and magazines in Braille and audio form and the design, production and distribution of audio books and playback machines. Before joining the National Library Service, Mr. Kormann was an engineer and program manager with the Naval Air Systems Command. There, he helped develop a tracking system used in Operation Desert Storm in Iraq to locate downed pilots.
Mr. Kormann was born in Bonn to American parents in the Foreign Service. He attended Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and received metropolitan all-star honors as a soccer player. He was a 1975 engineering graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He received a master's degree in human resources management from Pepperdine University and a master's degree in business administration from Duke University. He served six years in the Army until 1981 and was one of the first officers to command a regular Army female basic training company. He continued to serve in the Army Reserve until 2003, when he retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
He was a member of Chevy Chase United Methodist Church, a youth basketball and softball coach in Montgomery County and a Cub Scout volunteer.
Survivors include his wife of 27 years, Catherine Buckley, and their three children, Roger, Andrew and Claire Kormann, all of Bethesda; his parents, John and Elsa Kormann of Chevy Chase; a brother, Matthew Kormann of Glenwood; and a sister, Andrea Kormann Lowe of London.