Holder of 19 patents in mass spectrometry and 11 in vacuum and electronics, Berry was a pioneer in radio and electrical engineering.
Clifford Berry received his M.S. in Physics in 1941. After their marriage in 1942, the couple left Iowa for a defense-related job he had been offered with Consolidated Engineering Corporation in Pasadena, California. Under a special arrangement with Iowa State, Berry did his research in absentia and completed the requirements for the Ph.D. (in physics) in 1948, while employed by C.E.C.
In 1948 he received the doctorate after presenting a thesis entitled "The Effects of Initial Energies on Mass Spectra." He became Chief Physicist at C.E.C. in 1949 and Assistant Director of Research in 1952. Berry was made Director of Engineering of the Analytical and Control Division in 1959 and also served as its Technical Director.
