Frederick Emmons Terman

Biography

Abstract

Frederick Terman was Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering (1965-1982). His research interests included radio engineering, and during World War II he worked on radar countermeasures.

Important Dates

June 7, 1900Birth, English (Ind.).

1920Obtained AB in Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford (Calif.).

1922Obtained EE, Stanford University, Stanford (Calif.).

1924Obtained PhD in Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1925 – 1982Instructor to Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering (1925-1937); Professor of Electrical Engineering (1937-1945); Executive Head, Department of Electrical Engineering (1937-1945); Dean, School of Engineering (1945-1958); Provost (1955-1956); Vice President (1959-1965); and Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering (1965-1982), Stanford University, Stanford (Calif.).

1941 – 1945Member, Divisions 14 (Radar) and 15 (Radio Coordination), National Defense Research Committee, Office of Scientific Research and Development.

1942 – 1945Director, Radio Research Laboratory, Harvard University.

1943 – 1946Member, Engineering Division, National Research Council.

1946Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1948Member, Advisory Committee on Contractual anad Administrative Procedures for Research and Development, United States Department of the Army.

1950 – 1953Member, Special Technical Advisory Group, United States Department of Defense.

1953 – 1956Member, Committee on Tests of Battery Additives (1953-1954); Chair, Engineering Section (1953-1956); and Member, Council (1953-1956), National Academy of Sciences.

1954 – 1962Member, Advisory Council, Electronics Proving Ground (1954-1957) and Member, Research and Development Advisory Council, Signal Corps (1954-1962), United States Army.

1955 – 1959Member and Chair, Mathematics Physics and Engineering Science Division, National Science Foundation.

1956 – 1964Member, Naval Research Advisory Committee, United States Navy.

1957 – 1958Member, Defense Science Board, United States Department of Defense.

1959 – 1963Consultant, President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

1960 – 1965Member, Board of Foreign Scholars, United States Department of State.

1965 – 1974President, Foundation for Science and Engineering, Southern Methodist University.

1970 – 1973Consultant, President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

1975Awarded National Medal of Science.

December 19, 1982Death, Palo Alto (Calif.).

Occupation

Electrical engineer.

Places

Birth

English (Ind.)

Undergraduate Education

Stanford (Calif.)

Graduate Education

Stanford (Calif.)

Cambridge (Mass.)

Employment

Stanford (Calif.)

Death

Palo Alto (Calif.)

Subjects

Electrical engineering.

Electronics.

Radar.

Radio research.

Relationships

People

Family

Terman, Lewis M. (Lewis Madison), 1877-1956

Father.

Advisors & Collaborators

Bush, Vannevar, 1890-1974

PhD advisor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), "Characteristics and stability of transmission systems."

Ginzton, Edward L. (Edward Leonard), 1915-1998

Advised by Terman at Stanford University about stabilized negative impedances and both employed at Stanford University.

Helliwell, Robert A.

Advised by Terman at Stanford University, "Ionospheric virtual height measurements at 100 kilocycles."

Villard, Oswald G.

Advised by Terman at Stanford University.

Colleagues

Acrivos, A.

Both employed at Stanford University.

Bjorken, James D.

Both employed at Stanford University.

Bloch, Felix, 1905-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Chodorow, Marvin

Both employed at Stanford University.

Drell, Sidney D. (Sidney David), 1926-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Fairbank, William Martin, 1917-1989

Both employed at Stanford University.

Fetter, Alexander L., 1937-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Glashow, Sheldon L.

Both employed at Stanford University.

Hofstadter, Robert, 1915-1990

Both employed at Stanford University.

Kendall, Henry W. (Henry Way), 1926-1999

Both employed at Stanford University.

Kirkpatrick, Paul

Both employed at Stanford University.

Meyerhof, Walter E. (Walter Ernst), 1922-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Pake, G. E. (George Edward)

Both employed at Stanford University.

Panofsky, Wolfgang K. H. (Wolfgang Kurt Hermann), 1919-2007

Both employed at Stanford University.

Pearson, Gerald L. (Gerald Leondus)

Both employed at Stanford University.

Richter, Burton, 1931-2018

Both employed at Stanford University.

Schawlow, Arthur L., 1921-1999

Both employed at Stanford University.

Schiff, Leonard I. (Leonard Isaac), 1915-1971

Both employed at Stanford University.

Shockley, William, 1910-1989

Both employed at Stanford University.

Spicer, W. E. (William E.)

Both employed at Stanford University.

Teller, Edward, 1908-2003

Both employed at Stanford University.

Timoshenko, Stephen, 1878-1972

Both employed at Stanford University.

Walecka, John Dirk, 1932-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Additional

Gillmor, C. Stewart, 1938-

Hewlett, William R.

Kolstad, George Andrew, 1919-1996

Siegman, A. E.

Woodyard, John R., 1904-1981

Institutions

Major Positions

Harvard University. Radio Research Laboratory

Director.

Stanford University

Provost and Vice President.

Stanford University. Department of Electrical Engineering

Obtained EE (1922). Instructor to Associate Professor; Professor; Department Head; and Emeritus Professor.

Stanford University. School of Engineering.

Dean.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering

Obtained ScD (1924).

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member; Member, Committee on Tests of Battery Additives; Chair, Engineering Section; and Member, Council.

National Research Council (U.S.)

Member, Engineering Division.

National Science Foundation (U.S.)

Member and Chair, Mathematics Physics and Engineering Science Division.

Southern Methodist University

President, Foundation for Science and Engineering.

Stanford University. Department of Chemistry

Obtained AB (1920).

United States. Army

Member, Advisory Council, Electronics Proving Ground and Member, Advisory Committee on Contractual and Administrative Procedures for Research and Development.

United States. Army. Signal Corps

Member, Research and Development Advisory Committee.

United States. Defense Science Board

Member.

United States. Department of Defense

Member, Special Technical Advisory Group.

United States. Department of State

Member, Board of Foreign Scholars.

United States. Naval Research Advisory Committee

Member.

United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development. National Defense Research Committee

Member, Divisions 14 (Radar) and 15 (Radio Coordination).

United States. President's Science Advisory Committee

Consultant.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Fredrick Emmons Terman papers, 1920-1978.

Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305, USA

Oral history interview with Frederick Emmons Terman, 1974 January, 1978 April, 1971 March. Frederick Emmons Terman: oral history transcript / introduction by Peggy Pascoe; interviews conducted by Arthur Norberg; a joint project with Stanford Oral History Project. January 1974, April 1978, March 1971.

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA, 94720-6000, USA

Subject

Draft of April press conference with Joyce (Vice-President Pacific Gas & Electric), Panofsky (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center), Seaborg (Atomic Energy Commission), and Terman (Acting President Stanford), 1964

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

George Andrew Kolstad response to 1981 History of Nuclear Physics Survey, 1982.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Anthony Edward Siegman, 1984 January 23 and 1986 August 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Edward Ginzton, 1984 November 26.

IEEE History Center

Rutgers University

39 Union Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA

Oral history interview with John R. Woodyard: Cyclotron and Klystron development: oral history transcript, 1974 October 18 and 1975 December 17.

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA, 94720-6000, USA

Oral history interview with William Hewlett, 1984 November 27.

IEEE History Center

Rutgers University

39 Union Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA

Oral history interview with William Shockley, 1974 September 10.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Radio Research Laboratory records, 1942-1946.

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Stanford University, School of Engineering, Dean's Office records, 1915-1969 (inclusive), 1925-1955 (bulk).

Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305, USA

Success Story: Stanford University electronics and research lab: videorecording, 1990.

Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305, USA

Published Resources

Author

Electronic and radio engineering [by] Frederick Emmons Terman, assisted by Robert Arthur Helliwell [and others]

Fundamentals of radio.

Radio engineering.

Radio engineer's handbook / by Frederick Emmons Terman …

Subject

"'Exploiting a Wonderful Opportunity': The Patronage of Scientific Research at Stanford University, 1937-1965," Minerva 30 (1992): 391-421.

"Frederick Emmons Terman: 1900-1982", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Selling Silicon Valley: Frederick Terman's Model for Regional Advantage," Business History Review 70 (1996): 435-472

Creating the Cold War University: The Transformation of Stanford (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997).

Fred Terman at Stanford : building a discipline, a university, and Silicon Valley / C. Stewart Gillmor.

Fred Terman Interview, 1969.

Frederick E. Terman Physics Today obituary.

The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993).