Obituaries in the EMC Newsletter

Introduction
Over the years, a number of EMC Society Members have had their deaths noted in the pages of the IEEE EMC Society Newsletter. The total number of notifications is around 67 people. The complete list, alphabetized by last name, is shown at the end of this article. Of course, many well-respected individuals who were members of the EMC Society were not honored in the Newsletter due to a lack of feedback from family members who did not know we offer that compliment to the members at the end of their career.


Cover Page Remembrances
Although most of our members are memorialized within the pages of the body of the Newsletter, some key contributors to the Society are honored with a cover page memorial. There have been a total of 10 individuals honored in this fashion.
     The first was Maximilian Ware who was honored in Newsletter #37 in March of 1965. He was chairman of the Washington Chapter of the EMC Society. He was a pioneer in the Government radio frequency compatibility efforts in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer and initiated the first government contracts for Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) studies and measurements by the Armour Research Foundation and the Georgia Institute of Technology.
     Aaron Humphrey Sullivan, Jr. was the second individual honored on the cover page of the Newsletter; Issue No. 124 in the Winter of 1985. He was knows as “Sully” to his friends and he was a Founding Member of the Washington Chapter of the EMC Society. He served on the Board of Directors of the EMC Society from 1964 to 1969 and from 1973 to 1975. He was Chairman of the 1983 Silver Anniversary Symposium held in Washington, DC. He believed that every man owes something to the advancement of his profession and “Sully” achieved this in his service to the IEEE and the EMC Society.
     The third individual was Rexford Daniels who was a Founding Member of the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) Professional Group on RFI; the predecessor to the IEEE EMC Society. “Rex” was born on June 16, 1898 and passed away on January 2, 1987. He was the first Newsletter Editor of the EMC Society; he actually started a newsletter called “Quasies and Peaks” in 1954 before the start of the EMC Society in 1957 and that became the basis for the newsletter of the IRE Professional Group on RFI. He served as Editor of the newsletter from 1957 until the middle of 1968. He was also President of the EMC Society from 1965–1967. “Rex” was the first recipient of the EMC Society Certificate of Appreciation, the EMC Society Certificate of Recognition, and the EMC Society Honorary Life Membership.
     Harold Raymond Schwenk was a Founding Member and the first Chairman of the IRE Professional Group on RFI and served from 1957 until 1959 in that role. He was born on November 1, 1923 and died on March 27, 1988. He was also a Founder of the Metropolitan New York EMC Society Chapter and was Chairman of that Chapter a number of times.
     James Stewart Hill was the fifth individual honored on the cover page of the EMC Newsletter. He was a Founding Member of the IRE Professional Group on RFI and was an Associate Editor of the EMC Newsletter for Book Reviews for over twenty years. He was born on December 2, 1912 and his last day with us was October 30, 1988.
     Fred J. Nichols was the next individual to be honored on the cover page. He was a Founder of the IRE Professional Group on RFI and President of the EMC Society in 1969. He was well-known for his photographs at EMC Symposiums and for founding LectroMagnetics, Inc. (a shield room company). He was also the father of our present Newsletter Editor, Janet Nichols O’Neil. Fred lived from 1917 to 1990.
     Gerald Rothhammer was another Founder of the IRE Professional Group on RFI and a popular member of the EMC Society. He was involved with companies that developed EMI instrumentation for almost forty years. He was a Member of the Board of Directors of the EMC Society and he served as Assistant Director of Professional Services on the Board for a number of years. His time on earth was from 1930 to 1991.
     The early 1990s were a sad time for the EMC Society. The next outstanding individual to die in the early “90s” and to be honored on the cover page of the Newsletter was Dr. Robert J. Haislmaier. He served on the EMC Society Board of Directors for a number of years and was Director of ­Communication Services on the Board. He was elected a Fellow of the IEEE in 1987. He lived from June 26, 1929 until January 11, 1992.
     The ninth member of the EMC Society to be honored on the cover page of the Newsletter was Richard B. Schulz who lived from May 21, 1920 to October 1, 1998. He was honored on Issue No. 180 for the Winter of 1999. Richard was primarily known for serving as Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility for 18 years. He had numerous other achievements in his career including serving as President of the EMC Society Board of Directors in 1968. He was also a Life Fellow of the IEEE.
     The tenth member of the EMC Society to be listed in memoriam on the cover page of the Newsletter was Motohisa Kanda. He was honored in Issue #186 in the Summer of 2000. He was most well-known for being Editor of the IEEE Transactions on EMC for 12 years. He was an IEEE Fellow. He was with us from September 10, 1943 until June 12, 2000.


Other Facts
It is interesting to note that two of our most “remembered” members both passed away in the 1972–1973 timeframe and were highlighted in the Newsletter; Richard R. Stoddart and Laurence Gordon Cumming. Two of the most significant awards in the EMC Society are named in honor of these two gentlemen.
     The only woman on the list was L. Gilda Haskins-McMahon who was honored in Newsletter #170 which was released in the Summer of 1996. Her life duration was 1949–1996.
     Since 2000, we have honored 34 individuals in the EMC Society for their lives of service to the IEEE and the EMC Society. This is approximately as many as we had honored in the first 43 years of our existence as an Engineering Society.
     In the Spring Issue of 2008, an EMC Society “Completed Careers” Committee was formed “with the goal of making sure EMC Society Members who pass away are recognized and honored.” Part of the Committee’s responsibility is to publish information on members who have “completed their careers” in the EMC Newsletter. The Completed Careers column is now a regular part of the EMC Newsletter.

 

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