Professor Emeritus John Roy Whinnery, former dean of engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and a distinguished innovator in the field of electromagnetism and communication electronics has died at the age of 92. Whinnery’s earliest work focused on understanding discontinuities in electromagnetic wave devices. His research led to innovations in microwave amplifiers such as triodes, used in World War II communication devices and radar receivers, and in traveling-wave tubes. Work on later devices included the backward-wave amplifier, which is still used in radar applications. His later research interests include lasers and laser application, and he was recognized as one of the nation’s top experts on the fundamentals of quantum electronics. He is also credited with helping to bring the study of applied electromagnetic theory to a broader audience with his pioneering textbook Fields and Waves in Modern Radio, which he first co-authored with Simon Ramo in 1944. The modern edition of that text is still used in college courses today, 65 years later. See the official announcement on theBerkeley website.
EM Pioneer Dies at 92
