List of Presidents of the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE)

IRE Presidents, 1912-1962

IRE Past Presidents, 1966. L-R, George Bailey, Arthur V. Loughren, Donald G. Fink, John D. Ryder, Donald B. Sinclair, Haraden Pratt, Stuart L. Bailey, Alfred N. Goldsmith, Ivan S. Coggeshall, Ernst Weber, Frederick B. Llewellyn

Robert H. Marriott, 1912, completed the first Pacific Coast commercial broadcasting system operative between an island off the coast of California and the California mainland. Also, he was the first man in America to use the telephone and detector method for radio reception.

Greenleaf W. Pickard, 1913, received a patent for a silicon crystal detector in 1906, and he founded the Wireless Specialty Apparatus Company in order to market his detectors.

Louis W. Austin, 1914, worked at the Bureau of Standards, where he studied radio propagation studies. He also supervised a radio laboratory at the Bureau of Standards.

John Stone Stone, 1915, invented the Stone common battery, and served as associate engineer for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company’s research and development department.

Arthur E. Kennelly, 1916, co-discovered the Heaviside-Kennelly layer in the ionosphere with Oliver Heaviside in 1901, which contributed to the study of radio waves.

Michael I. Pupin, 1917, taught mathematical physics at Columbia University. He also studied wave propagation, and applied his findings to long distance telephony experiments and research.

George W. Pierce, 1918-19, is considered to be one of the founding fathers of communication engineering.

John V. L. Hogan, 1920, was one of the founders of the classical music radio station WQXR. He was also the founder of the Society of Wireless Telegraph Engineers.

Ernst F. W. Alexanderson, 1921, invented a self-exciting alternator. He also designed a series of high-frequency alternators for radio use.

Fulton Cutting, 1922, was former president and chairman of the Colonial Radio Corporation in Buffalo, New York.

Irving Langmuir, 1923, worked at the General Electric Research Laboratory, and helped to modernize vacuum tube engineering.

John Harold Morecroft, 1924, was an engineering professor at Pratt Institute and Columbia University, and he served as a scientific expert to the U.S. Navy.

John H. Dellinger, 1925, was vice president of the International Scientific Radio Union, and served as chairman of the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics.

Donald M. McNicol, 1926, worked for land-line telegraph companies, and published three books about telegraph engineering.

Ralph Bown, 1927, focused on improving long-distance communication, and he led the press conference that announced the invention of the transistor.

Alfred N. Goldsmith, 1928, began working for RCA as the director of research, and later became vice president and general manager of the company.

Albert Hoyt Taylor, 1929, was in charge of the Aircraft Radio Laboratory, and he later directed a radar development project for ships to use in order to detect enemy ships and aircraft.

Lee de Forest, 1930, patented the Audion, which is a three element vacuum tube that was a sensitive wireless receptor, in 1907.

Ray H. Manson, 1931, was the chief engineer for the Stromberg-Carlson Telephone Manufacturing Company in Rochester, New York. He also received over fifty U.S. patents relating to the telephone, phonograph, and radio.

Walter G. Cady, 1932, studied crystal resonators in radio frequency applications, which later led to him being granted two patents for his research in 1922.

Lewis M. Hull, 1933, was the director of research and later the vice president of the Radio Frequency Laboratories.

C. M. Jansky, Jr., 1934, helped to establish government radio regulation, and he also worked to create the National Association of Broadcasters.

Charles Stuart Ballantine, 1935, discovered the antenna effect in coil-type systems, and he invented the capacity compensator for these systems.

Alan Hazeltine, 1936, designed the SE 1420, which was used on destroyers, and the Neutrodyne, which aided broadcast reception.

Harold H. Beverage, 1937, supervised the development of receivers for transoceanic communications at RCA, which led to a patent for the Beverage Antenna.

Haraden Pratt, 1938, served as vice president and general manager of the International Telephone and Telegraph Company.

Raymond A. Heising, 1939, researched ultra-short waves, electronics, and piezoelectric crystal devices. He also invented the Heising modulation system, among other modulation systems.

Lawrence C. F. Horle, 1940, was an expert radio aide for the U.S. Navy during World War I, and his work centered around the standardization of terminology and ratings.

Frederick E. Terman, 1941, viewed as one of the founding fathers of the Silicon Valley. He is also the author of Radio Engineering, which would become an important textbook for the profession.

Arthur F. Van Dyck, 1942, served as an expert radio aide for the United States Navy, and he was in charge of radio receiver design at General Electric Company.

Lynde P. Wheeler, 1943, was the chief of engineering in the Federal Communications Commission’s information division.

Hubert M. Turner, 1944, was in charge of graduate research in electrical engineering at Yale University.

William L. Everitt, 1945, served in the department of development and research at the American Telephone and Telegraph Company.

Frederick B. Llewellyn, 1946, designed a sensitive receiver, which was used to detect radar signals reflected from the moon, with Edwin H. Armstrong.

Walter R. G. Baker, 1947, was the manager of GE’s radio-television facility. He also directed the Radio Manufacturers Association’s engineering department.

Benjamin E. Shackelford, 1948, was in charge of the engineering and development of radio tubes for Westinghouse Lamp Company.  

Stuart L. Bailey, 1949, was in charge of the laboratory activities at the engineering consulting firm that he co-founded with C. M. Jansky. His research was also a pioneering factor in the study of directional antennas.

Raymond F. Guy, 1950, worked on the engineering staff of RCA’s research laboratories. He also participated in RCA’s early developments regarding the television.

Ivan S. Coggeshall, 1951, researched the integration and end-on operation of landline telegraphs, undersea cables, and overseas radio circuits.

Donald B. Sinclair, 1952, worked on the development and design of high-frequency measuring instruments. He later became the chief engineer at Western Canada Airways.

James W. McRae, 1953, was chief of engineering at the Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories

William R. Hewlett, 1954, partnered with David Packard to form the company Hewlett-Packard.

John D. Ryder, 1955, worked at General Electric and Bailey Meter Company in industrial electronics, which resulted in him being granted 24 patents.

Arthur V. Loughren, 1956, directed the research about color television at Hazeltine Corporation, and his findings became a part of the National Television System Committee’s standards for color television.

John T. Henderson, 1957, joined the National Research Council of Canada’s staff as the head of the radio section.

Donald G. Fink, 1958, served as vice chairman of the National Television System Committee, and he later became the director of the Philco-Ford Scientific Laboratory.

Ernst Weber, 1959, organized a research group in order to conduct microwave research, where its members developed the precision microwave attenuator.

Ronald L. McFarlan, 1960, worked on electronic instrument design and development, which included x-rays, radar, sonar, and microwave communication.

Lloyd V. Berkner, 1961, was the head of the Section on Exploratory Geophysics of the Atmosphere at Carnegie Institution. Under his presidency of the Associated Universities, Inc., the organization built the National Radio Astronomy Laboratory in West Virginia.

Patrick E. Haggerty, 1962, was the first general manager of the Geophysical Service Incorporated’s Laboratory and Manufacturing division. He became executive vice president and director of Texas Instruments, which was formerly Geophysical Service Incorporated.

Further Reading

See also Presidents of the AIEE and Presidents of the IEEE.