Ronold W.P. King
1905-2006
Prof. Ronold King, 100, Mentor to 100 Harvard Doctoral Students
Prof. Ronold Wyeth Percival King, mentor to 100 doctoral students in the Harvard University Division of Engineering and Applied Science died peacefully in his home in Winchester, MA on 10 April 2006 at the age of 100. Prof. King was born in Williamstown, MA on 19 September 1905. He received the A.B and S.M. degrees in physics from the University of Rochester in 1927 and 1929 respectively and studied at the University of Munich, Germany from 1928-1929 and Cornell University from 1929-1930. He obtained the Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wisconsin in 1932, where he continued on as a Research Assistant from 1932 to 1934. He was an Assistant Professor at Lafayette College from 1934 to 1937. He was a Guggenheim Fellow studying in Europe from 1937-1938 and again in 1958. In 1938 he joined Harvard University as an Instructor, became an Assistant Professor in 1939, an Associate Professor in 1942 and in 1946 became the Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics. In 1972 he became Professor Emeritus.
Prof. King had a very close and long lasting relationship with his students. He shared a “brown bag” lunch with them almost daily and his office was always open for discussions; appointments were not necessary. Prof. King had a very positive effect on the lives of his students and he considered them part of his extended family. He taught by personal example and as a result he set very high academic standards for his students. Fortunately, he had the wisdom to realize that when a student was having a problem in meeting those standards, rather than casting the student aside, he made that special effort and provided the guidance that the student needed to overcome his or her problem. In addition, and probably more important, he instilled in his students, moral values that they lived by and likely passed on to their own children and grandchildren.
His dedication to his doctoral and many master’s students was profound and his students showed their appreciation by sharing many happy occasions with him. The very first event was a testimonial on the occasion of Prof. King’s transition to Professor Emeritus. On 15 April 1972, 54 of his students, and 61 wives and guests had a very enjoyable evening at the Harvard Club of Boston. One of the highlights of that evening was the announcement that his students planned to establish the Prof. R.W.P.King Education Fund, which would be used to give an annual award to a young author of an outstanding paper that was published in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. This very successful gathering led to many more happy occasions. The students enjoyed the opportunity to visit with Prof. King and to mingle with one another as family members often do. They thought that it would be nice to celebrate his birthdays every five years. Also, when the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society was holding its symposium in Boston, they would use this event as an opportunity to get together. His birthday celebrations started in September 1985 and were held every 5 years. Probably the most memorable party was that which was held on 17 September 2005 to celebrate Prof. King’s 100th birthday. Fortunately, Prof. King was in good spirits, happy to see his former students and colleagues and a good time was had by all 80 attendees. Prior to this party, Prof. King had sent out a copy of his autobiography, “A Man of the 20th Century” to all of his students. It is a truly fascinating account of his life.
His scientific contributions were monumental. He was the author of 12 books, many of them treatises; many book and encyclopedia chapters and over 300 journal papers. Most amazing, he never seemed to slow down. He published his latest book at age 97, and published his latest journal paper at age 98. He received numerous honors. Prof. King was a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was a Corresponding Member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of University Professors, and Commission B of the International Scientific Radio Union (URSI). He was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi. He was listed in “Who’s Who in the East”, “Who’s Who in America”, “Who’s Who in the World”, “World Who’s Who in Science”, and “Who’s Who in Medicine and Health Care”. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Wisconsin (1973), the Centennial Medal of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (1985), the Harold Pender Award from The Moore School of Electrical Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania (1986), the Distinguished Achievement Award of the Electrical and Electronics Engineers (1997), the IEEE Graduate Teaching Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (1997) and the Chen-To Tai Distinguished Educator Award from the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (2001). He certainly leaves to the field of electromagnetics an outstanding legacy of teaching and scholarship.
He was the beloved husband of Mary M. (Govoni) and the late Justine (Merrell) the loving father of Christopher M. King of CT, and step-father of Beverley M. Griffin and her husband W. David of Cape Elizabeth, ME, Susan A. Dalton and her husband Lawrence V. of Townsend, MA and Sandra J. James and her husband Thomas R. of Londonderry, NH. He was the brother of the late Donald, Percival and Rolfe King. Prof. King is also survived by a sister-in-law, Maryanne King of Damariscotta, ME, 8 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. A Memorial Service will be held in the Parish of the Epiphany Church, 70 Church St., Winchester on Friday April 21st at 10AM. Relatives and friends respectfully invited to attend. In lieu of flowers donations in his memory may be made to Hospice Care, Inc., 41 Montvale Ave., Stoneham, MA 02180.