Oral-History:Frederick E.Terman Associates

Frederick E.Terman Associates Oral History Collection

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A Brief History of EE at Stanford:  Frederick E.Terman went to MIT to pursue a doctorate. Terman minored in Chemistry at MIT and received his D.Sc. in Electrical Engineering in June 1924 as the first doctoral student of Vannevar Bush, the engineer who was later to head the effort in scientific research and development for the federal government in World War II. Terman's dissertation was on ``Characteristics and Stability of Transmission Lines. While at MIT, he also studied Fourier analysis with Norbert Wiener and radio engineering with Arthur E. Kennelly.

Terman was offered Instructorships in EE at both MIT and Stanford for the 1924-25 academic year. Before deciding he was struck down by tuberculosis and remained in bed for 9 months. While recovering, he directed Herbert Hoover, Jr., in a research course in radio in the winter and spring quarters of 1925. In fall 1925, Terman joined the Stanford EE Department as a half-time Instructor and in 1926 he took over the Communications Laboratory Course which Henline, with Morgan assisting, had begun during the previous year. Terman's arrival coincided with the establishment of a School of Engineering, with Theodore Jesse Hoover (the brother of President Herbert Hoover) as Dean.

For further information about EE History at Stanford, visit their site.

• Marvin Chodorow (#045) - A physicist who worked with microwaves, Klystrons, and particle accelerators. He also served as the head of Stanford's Department of Applied Physics.
• Edward Ginzton (#044) - Worked on the development of klystron and linear accelerators and was a Director of the Microwave Lab.
• William Hewlett (#046) - Co-founder and President of Hewlett-Packard.
• William R. Rambo (#047) - An electrical engineer who served as a director of Stanford Electronics Laboratories and as Associate Dean of Engineering.
• Chauncey Guy Suits (#042) - A research physicist and later Vice-President and Director of Research of GE. During WWII he headed Division 15 in Electronics of the NDRC.
• Oswald Garrison Villard (#043) - Director of the Radio Science Laboratory, technical advisor to the Naval Research Advisory Committee and contributor to the field of military electronic systems.

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