Richard D. Christie papers, 1945-2008

Robert William Albrecht, B.S., 1957, in Electrical Engineering, Purdue University; M.S., 1958, and Ph.D., 1961, University of Michigan. He was appointed assistant professor of Electrical Engineering at the UW in 1961, assistant professor of electrical and nuclear engineering in 1965, associate professor of nuclear engineering in 1967, professor of nuclear engineering in 1971, professor of nuclear and of Electrical Engineering in 1980, returned to electrical engineering 1984, associate chair for research and development to coordinate research resources and efforts of the EE faculty in 1989. Nuclear work claimed much of his interest. In 1965, Albrecht was appointed program chairman of the nuclear engineering division of the ASEE; in 1969, he became chairman of the ASEE's student program. He played a leading role in the major engineering curricular changes of 1971 (the CHAOS committee). Following the nuclear meltdown of the Russian Chernobyl plant in May of 1986, the UW was besieged with calls, so Albrecht called a press conference and explained to some 50 reporters and photographers, the construction and power capacity of the Chernobyl power plant and the probable nature of the meltdown. In the 1980s he changed his research interests to mobile robots. He retired in 2001. (source: collection materials)

John L. Bjorkstam; B.S. in E.E. (1949), M.S. (1952), Ph.D. (1958) University of Washington, was appointed Assistant Professor in Electrical Engineering in 1955, then advanced to Professor in 1965. Professor Bjorkstam has specialized in solid state electronics and studies of molecular motion and ferroelectrics. He has done consulting work for Boeing on solid state maser research. In 1967-68 he spent a year's leave of absence in France and Yugoslavia working on ferroelectricity." After retiring from the U.W., Dr. Bjorkstam taught at Reed College. He consulted for several agencies and institutes through the years on various projects to include preliminary research on MRI. His scientific career interest spanned a technological timeline from vacuum tubes to quantum mechanics. He served on various boards, including Trinity Western University Board of Governors and United Evangelical Free Church. (source: The Seattle Times, Sept. 7, 2016)

Daniel G. Dow; B.S. in 1952, M.S. in 1953, University of Michigan; Ph.D. in 1958, Stanford; taught at Stanford in 1957, and at the California Institute of Technology from 1958 to 1961. From 1961 to 1968 he was with Varian Associates, where he led the development of the Gunn-effect oscillator which can be used instead of Klystrons. In 1968, Dow was appointed Professor and Chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering. In 1977, Dr. Dow was appointed associate director of the Applied Physics Laboratory. In 1979, he continued as professor and also became director of the Washington Energy Research Center. In 1981, he decided to devote full time to teaching. (source: collection materials)

Ward Helms worked at the University of Washington from 1964 to 2004. After receiving his Ph.D. at UW Electrical Engineering, Helms joined the department as a faculty member. Helms’ advisor and mentor was Professor H. Myron Swarm, one of two principal investigators of the UW Antarctic Project, which involved laying a 21 mile dipole antenna on the 8,000 foot thick ice to transmit VLF signals. During his Ph.D., Helms studied the lower ionosphere and designed the first VLF radar system in Antarctica. Due to his significant research, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names named a mountain in Antarctica after him. Helms’ research evolved over the years. After studying electronic system design, he founded the department’s integrated circuit program, which he taught for 36 years. (source: https://www.ece.uw.edu/spotlight/emeritus-prof-ward-helms-honored-for-40-years-of-excellence/)

Akira Ishimaru, B.S., 1951, in electrical engineering, University of Tokyo; Ph.D., 1958, University of Washington. Ishimaru was appointed assistant professor of electrical engineering at the UW in 1958, associate professor in 1961, professor in 1965, professor of electrical engineering and of applied mathematics group in 1977. Professor Ishimaru had a quiet, undemanding personality, but was most courteous and cooperative, always eager to be of assistance. He established a fine record as a teacher as well as a research worker. His first research work was on antennas, for the U.S. Air Force, conducted under the direction of his advisor, professor Gedaliah Held. Later, Ishimaru carried this project on by himself. He also had a keen interest in microwave projection. Many of his reports have appeared in European publications. Prof. Ishimaru became the first Boeing Martin Professor in 1993. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Professor Ishimaru retired in 1998 but has remained active in research through 2005. (source: collection materials)

Peter (Pete) Lauritzen (1935-2022) was born in Indiana and grew up in Glen Ellyn and Rock Island, Illinois. He traveled west for college at Cal Tech, then to grad school at Stanford. After earning his Ph.D, he spent six months as a post-doc in Zurich. As Professor of Electrical Engineering at University of Washington from 1965-1999, Pete was an esteemed teacher and beloved mentor. In 1997, he received a Fulbright Award to teach at the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras (now Chennai) and in 1999 gave courses at Aalborg University in Denmark. (source: https://obituaries.seattletimes.com/obituary/peter-lauritzen-1086608540)

Endrik Noges, B.S., 1954, in electrical engineering, M.S., 1956, and Ph.D., 1959, Northwestern University. Noges was appointed assistant professor of electrical engineering at the UW in 1958, associate professor in 1962, associate professor and assistant dean of engineering in 1966, professor and assistant dean in 1969, and professor and acting chairman of electrical engineering 1988-90. His interests lay largely in control systems. In 1963-64 Noges served as a Fulbright lecturer at the Finnish Institute of Technology, Finland. He also was a consultant for Boeing and Hydranamic Systems. Prof. Noges retired and became a Professor Emeritus in 1993. He passed away in June 2006. (source: collection materials)

Mary Irene Carswell Peden, B.S.E.E. 1947, University of Colorado, M.S. 1958, Ph.D. 1961, Stanford University. Appointed Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington in 1961, the first female EE professor at Washington. Promoted to Associate Professor in 1964 and Professor in 1971. Her research interests were in subsurface remote sensing, including tunnel detection, radio science and antenna propagation. In previous employment, she spent seven years with the Stanford Research Institute and two with the Delaware Light Company. Irene Peden was the first woman scientist from the U.S. to do research in inland Antarctica, when she was one of the four UW professors to research low-frequency radio signals of a 21-mile antenna installed on the ice at Byrd's Station. As a professor she gave much encouragement to female students; and in 1972, she was appointed to head of the College's affirmative action program and associate dean. Peden attained many leadership roles such as chair of the Seattle Section of the IEEE, in 1980 chair of the Engineering Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology, in 1989 Fellow of the IEEE, in 1988 Fellow of the American Association of Science, and in 1989, member of the NASA Space Station Crew Selection Committee and elected president of the Antenna and Propagation Society of IEEE. In 1993 she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Peden unsuccessfully sued the University for salary discrimination after her retirement. (source: collection materials)

Raised in Selah, Washington, Sahr attended CalTech, followed by a year at UCLA then Cornell where he worked on radar observation of the ionosphere. He came to the University of Washington in 1991. Around 1994 Sahr began working on passive bistatic radar using FM radio stations as transmitters. Sahr was terminated from the University of Washington for misconduct in 2020. (source: collection materials)

Rubens Adolpho Sigelmann, B.S., 1952, in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Universidade de São Paulo; M.S., 1961, and Ph.D., 1963, University of Washington. Sigelmann was appointed acting instructor of electrical engineering at the UW in 1958, acting assistant professor in 1963, and professor in 1975. His special fields were antennas, surface waves, and travel of sound in tissues. He was a consultant on electro-magnetic interference for Boeing. Sigelmann was a visiting professor at Duisburg Universität, Germany, in 1985 and again in 1992. He spent 4 month in 1989 at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as a Fulbright Researcher. In 1993 he was a visiting professor at Escola Politecnica da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil. Prof. Sigelmann retired and became Professor Emeritus in 1991. In 1995 he wrote a history of the Electrical Engineering department. (source: collection materials)