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NATHAN COHN
1907-1989
BY W. SPENCER BLOOR
NATHAN COHN active for more than sixty years in the
measurement and automatic control field, a pioneer in the
development and application of control techniques for in-
terconnected electric power systems, and elected to the National
Academy of Engineering in 1969, died in Scottsdale, Arizona,
on November 16, 1989, at age eighty-two.
Nat, as he was called by those who knew him well, was
born in Hartford, Connecticut, January 2, 1907. Following
graduation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in 1927, he joined the Leeds & Northrup Company and
remained with the firm for forty-eight years. He retired
from his position of executive vice-president in 1972 and
from corporate director in 1975. Following his Leeds &
Northrup retirement, he remained active presenting invited
lectures, serving as corporate director of several techno-
logically-oriented companies, devising new patented techniques
for improving interconnected power system operational
performance and control, authoring and presenting technical
papers, working as senior technical associate of Network
Systems Development Associates, and participating in vol-
unteer work. Nat's engineering career was distinguished
by both personal achievement and leadership of others.
In the field of control of interconnected electric power
systems, he was a worId-renowned authority. He authored
41
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42
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
ninety technical papers and a book. He was granted fif-
teen patents and established several interconnected system
operating practices. Many of his patents and practices are
widely used in the electric utility industry, and his publica-
tions, in the education of electric power engineers. In his
specialty, he was in clemand as a lecturer both in the United
States and abroad. Included in the list of countries where
he lectured are Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Russia,
and Yugoslavia. For his personal technical achievements,
Nat was elected a life fellow of the Franklin Institute, the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (TEEE),
and the Instrument Society of America (ISA); and was awarded
the Franklin Institute's John Price Wetherill Medal, the IEEE's
Lamme Medal, and ISA's Albert F. Sperry Founder Award.
Nat's engineering leadership carried the hallmark of
constructive accomplishment. Thorough advance prepara-
tion, well-understood plans, attention to the details of imple-
mentation, and high standards of excellence in results were
characteristics of his leadership. During his ten years as
vice-president of research and engineering at Leeds &
Northrup, the company enjoyed a period of exceptional
productivity in its output of new products of outstanding
merit. His terms as president of the National Electronics
Conference, the ISA, and the Scientific Apparatus Makers
Association; and as chairman of the Franklin Institute's board
of managers, the IEEE's Fellows Committee and Awards
Board, and the Intersociety Hoover Medal Awards Board
were marked by innovation, achievement, and the esteem
of those he led. For leadership and career accomplishments,
he was awarded the IEEE's Edison Medal, the Scientific
Apparatus Makers Award, and honorary membership in the
ISA; and made an adviser to the International Federation
of Automatic Control.
The list of his services as member or chairman of committees
or volunteer organizations is too long to recount in full.
For the National Academy of Engineering, Nat chaired the
Electrical Engineering-Communications/Computers/Contro!
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NATHAN COHN
43
Peer Committee in 1975 and the Committee on Member-
ship in 1977. For the National Research Council, he chaired
the National Bureau of Standards Advisory Panel on Time
and Frequency from 1969 to 1971 and the Pane] on Instru-
mentation of the Physics Survey Committee from 1970 to
1973. For his alma mater, the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, he served on the visiting committees for libraries
and philosophy. In the Philadelphia community, he was
vice-president of the Eagleville Hospital Rehabilitation Center
and a trustee of Keneseth Israel Reform Congregation.
Nat was a member of Eta Kappa Nu, Sigma Xi, and Tau
Beta Pi, and received an honorary doctor of engineering
from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1976. He was an
avid sports fan and enjoyed boating, fishing, golf, and out-
door cooking.
He is survived by his wife of forty-nine years, Marjorie;
their five children, Dr. Theodore E. of Berkeley, California,
Dr. David L. of South Bend, Indiana, Dr. Anne H. of Chicago,
Illinois, Dr. Amy E. Cohn-Tucker of New York City, and
Julie Cohn Conner of Houston, Texas; and eight grandchildren.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
technical papers
