Alfred N. Goldsmith

The IRE awarded its 1941 Medal of Honor to Alfred N. Goldsmith "for his contributions to radio research, engineering, and commercial development, his leadership in standardization, and his unceasing devotion to the establishment and upbuilding of the Institute and its Proceedings." In addition to being a central participant in the founding of the IRE in 1912, he served as the editor of the Proceedings from 1913 through 1954 except for one year when he was president of the IRE. He became a Fellow of the IRE in 1915 and served on the IRE Board of Directors from 1912 until the merger with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to form the IEEE in 1963. Goldsmith also taught electrical engineering for many years and served as the first research director at the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). He received 122 patents for his inventions, primarily in the fields of radio, facsimile systems, television, and motion pictures. But it was his inspired leadership in making the Proceedings of the IEEE into a preeminent international professional engineering journal that earned him the admiration and respect of his peers.     

Electrical engineering Hall of Fame: Guglielmo Marconi

In 1920, the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) selected Guglielmo Marconi as the third recipient of its Medal of Honor. He was honored for "his pioneer work in radio telegraphy." The Italian-born inventor-entrepreneur had become world famous for his success in transmitting wireless signals over long distances in the early 20th century. The IRE Medal of Honor was by no means his first award. He had, in fact, shared the Nobel Prize in physics in 1909 for his important contributions to radio science and engineering.     

Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Peder O. Pedersen

In 1930, The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) selected Peder O. Pedersen as the recipient of its Medal of Honor. He had become well known for his contributions to the development of the Poulsen arc system for wireless telegraphy and telephony. He also was a leader in engineering education in Denmark. He had become a Fellow of the IRE in 1915 and authored several papers published by the Proceedings of the IRE between 1917 and 1940. He also became a Fellow of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1920 and was a member of several other professional societies of science and engineering in various European countries.     

Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Lee de Forest

In 1922, the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) selected Lee de Forest as the fifth recipient of its Medal of Honor. He was cited for "his major contributions to the communications arts and sciences, as particularly exemplified by his invention of that outstandingly significant device: the three-electrode vacuum tube, and his work in the fields of radio telephonic transmission and reception". He served a term as president of the IRE in 1930. He also received the Edison Medal of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) in 1946, becoming one of only seven to receive both the Medal of Honor and the Edison Medal prior to 1962. He became known for having a rather flamboyant personality and was a very prolific inventor, receiving more than 300 patents during his career. Like some other pioneers in radio and electronics, he expended considerable time and energy on litigation related to his patents.     

Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Louis W. Austin

The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) selected Louis W. Austin as the recipient of its Medal of Honor in 1927. He was cited for "his pioneer work in quantitative measurement and correlation of factors involved in radio wave transmission." He had served as the third president of the IRE in 1914 and authored numerous papers for the Proceedings of the IRE during the period from 1913 to 1932. He conducted systematic data collection and analysis of wave propagation phenomena as a longtime employee of the National Bureau of Standards. His work provided a scientific basis for the design of early transoceanic radio transmitters for the U.S. Navy and private communication companies.     

Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Michael I. Pupin

In 1924, the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) selected Michael I. Pupin as the seventh recipient of its Medal of Honor. He was cited for his "fundamental contributions in the field of electrical tuning and the rectification of alternating currents used for signaling purposes". An influential electrical engineering educator and inventor, he had served as the president of the IRE in 1917 and had received the Edison Medal from the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) in 1920. He also received the Pulitzer Prize in 1924 for his autobiography entitled From Immigrant to Inventor and served as president of the AIEE in 1925. His pioneering work on the so-called loading coil used in telephony brought him considerable fame and financial rewards. He was a mentor of such well-known pioneers in radioelectronics as Alfred N. Goldsmith and Edwin H. Armstrong.     

Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Jonathan Zenneck

In 1928, the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) selected Jonathan Zenneck as the recipient of its Medal of Honor. He was cited for "his contribution to original researches in radio circuit performance and to the scientific and educational contributions to the literature of the pioneer radio art." His research interests included cathode-ray tube instruments, coupled resonant circuits, and directive antennas. He also performed experimental and theoretical investigations of electric wave propagation over land and water surfaces. He authored about 200 technical papers and two influential books on electric waves and wireless communication. He became a Fellow of the IRE in 1914.     

Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Greenleaf W. Pickard

In 1926, the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) awarded its Medal of Honor to Greenleaf Whittier Pickard. The award was in recognition of his contributions to research on crystal detectors, antennas, wave propagation, and noise suppression. During his long career, he was a leader in the creation of the radio engineering profession and a prolific author of research papers published in the Proceedings of the IEEE. He served as the second president of the IRE during 1913.     

Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: George A. Campbell

In 1936, the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) selected George A. Campbell as the recipient of its Medal of Honor. He was cited "for his contributions to the theory of electrical networks." He also was awarded the Edison Medal by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) in 1940, becoming one of the small select group of individuals to receive both of these awards. During a career of almost four decades, he made important contributions to the theory and applications of loading coils, electric wave filters, electrical measurements, and directive antennas. He played a leading role in the transformation of communications from trial-and-error empiricism into a scientific discipline based on electromagnetic field theory.     

Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: John A. Fleming

In 1933, the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) selected John A. Fleming as the recipient of its Medal of Honor. He was cited "for the conspicuous part he played in introducing physical and engineering principles into the radio art." Earlier, he had received the Hughes Medal of the Royal Society of London, in 1910, and the Faraday Medal of the British Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), in 1928. During his long career, he authored more than 100 technical papers and several influential textbooks. He is remembered as the inventor of the "Fleming valve," an thermionic diode which was a precursor of vacuum-tube amplifiers     

The Busignies vision of communications and navigation in 2012 ADand beyond

In his essay entitled “Communication and Navigation” (see Proc. IRE, vol.49, p.592, 1961), H. Busignies foresaw booming businesses in each field leading up to 2012. His visions have been largely fulfilled earlier than he expected, which is typical of forecasting the future. He envisioned satellite communication, worldwide electronic mail, waveguides at optical frequencies (fiber optics), newspapers and magazines without paper, hand-carried wireless radio, all-weather flying, and anti-collision systems for aircraft-a remarkable list from a remarkable engineer. The author expands on his list, makes some comments on his essay, and then tries to look beyond 2012     

Frederick E. Terman

The IRE awarded its 1950 Medal of Honor to Frederick E. Terman "for his many contributions to the radio and electronic industry as teacher, scientist, and administrator."     

Walter R. G. Baker

The IRE awarded its 1952 Medal of Honor to Walter R. G. Baker for "his outstanding direction of scientific and engineering projects" and "his statesmanship in reconciling conflicting viewpoints and obtaining cooperative effort."     

William L. Everitt

The IRE awarded William L. Everitt the 1954 Medal of Honor "for his distinguished career as author, educator, and scientist" and "for his contributions in establishing electronics and communications as a major branch of electrical engineering."     

Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Melville Eastham

Discusses the career and contributions of Melville Eastham, who was awarded the 1937 IRE Medal of Honor for pioneering work in radio measurements, his influence on laboratory practice, and for his unfailing support of the Institute.     

Addenda (Jul. 1954 [T-MTT])

1. G. A. Deschamps, "New Chart for the Solution of Transmission-Line and Polarization Problems," Trans. IRE Professional Group on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 5-13; March, 1953: In his article, "Die Anwendung der Riemannschen Zahlenkugel und ihrer Projectionen in der Wechselstromtechnik," (Radiowelt, vol. 1, pp. 23-26; October, 1946), F. Steiner obtained the representation of impedances by points on a sphere by the use of stereographic projection of the complex numbers plane. He then considered the orthogonal projection of this sphere on an equatorial plane which gives, in effect, the projective chart. An application of that chart to the determination of impedance by the 3-probes method, anticipating part of the results in the section titled, "Problems on Power," is also described.     

Scanning our past from the IEEE history center. In his own words: Harold Henry Beverage

As the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) and its flagship publication PROCEEDINGS OF THE IRE (now known as PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE) mark their 90th anniversary, it is interesting to note how radio once revolutionized society and brought the world closer, much as the Internet is doing today. The Harold Henry Beverage interview is a prime example of how the IEEE History Center can preserve information on an important figure in the history of engineering and its impact on technology who otherwise might not be known to the general public or even to today's practitioners outside of a narrow subfield. It is also an example of how we can learn about engineers as individuals. Finally, it demonstrates how the History Center serves as keeper of both IEEE's technological and institutional histories, for Beverage was to rise to become President of the IRE.     

Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: William D. Coolidge

In 1927, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) selected William D. Coolidge as the recipient of the Edison Medal. He was cited "for his contributions to the incandescent electric lighting and the X-ray arts." He also was the recipient of the Rumford Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1914 and the Faraday Medal of the British Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1939. He spent most of his professional career as a research scientist and administrator at the General Electric Research Laboratory (GERL). He is remembered especially for his leading role in the development of ductile tungsten wire for use as filaments in lamps and vacuum tubes     

Biography - A. G. Clavier

A. G. Clavier was born in France in 1894. He graduated at the Sorbonne as "Licencie en Sciences Physiques et Mathématiques" and received the diploma of Electrical Engineer from the Ecole Superieure d' Electricité (Paris) in 1920. He started his career of radio research as the head of one of the Laboratories of the French Signal Corps, in charge of military developments in the higher part of the radio-frequency spectrum. He was a member of the French jury supervising the famous amateur contest in 1923 for short-wave transatlantic qomrnunication. He was Secretary of the Redaction of "Onde Electrique" during its first years of existence (1922-1925).     

Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Cummings C. Chesney

In 1921, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) selected Cummings C. Chesney as the recipient of the Edison Medal. He was cited for his contributions to early developments in alternating current transmission". He later served as president of the AIEE during 1926 and 1927. He was known for his pioneering work with high-voltage power transmission.