Oral-History:J. Lawrence Katz

About J. Lawrence (Larry) Katz

Katz received from Brooklyn Polytechnic his BS in Physics (1950), his MS in crystal physics (1951), and his PhD in crystal physics. He was a mathematics instructor at Brooklyn Polytechnic (1952-56), and then a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). He was inspired in the 1950s by a fellowship year in England to apply crystal physics to biological studies; in the early 1960s, when he got tenure, he began to do so. He has worked on tooth and bone structure, since they are crystalline. He slipped into the field via a 5-year teaching grant (1964-69), to direct graduate students into dental materials research. This allowed him to learn the field with his students. He has done work measuring the anisotropic properties of bones, and uses acoustic microscopy and ultrasound in his work. He set up one of the first biomedical engineering programs that wasn’t subordinate to an Electrical Engineering Program. He believes the interdisciplinary efforts of the field are finally beginning to bear fruit, as it moves towards a “genome to bedside” paradigm.

About the Interview

J. LAWRENCE (LARRY) KATZ: An Interview Conducted by Frederik Nebeker, IEEE History Center, 15 October 1999

Interview # 372 for the IEEE History Center, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Inc., and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Copyright Statement

This manuscript is being made available for research purposes only. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the IEEE History Center. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of IEEE History Center.

Request for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the IEEE History Center Oral History Program, Rutgers - the State University, 39 Union Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8538 USA. It should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user.

It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows:
Larry Katz, an oral history conducted in 1999 by Frederik Nebeker, IEEE History Center, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.

Interview

Interview: Larry Katz
Interviewer: Frederik Nebeker
Date: 15 October 1999
Place: Atlanta, GA