National Academies Press: OpenBook

Memorial Tributes: Volume 5 (1992)

Chapter: Carl Covalt Chambers

« Previous: Leo Casagrande
Suggested Citation:"Carl Covalt Chambers." National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Memorial Tributes: Volume 5. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1966.
×
Page 46
Suggested Citation:"Carl Covalt Chambers." National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Memorial Tributes: Volume 5. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1966.
×
Page 47
Suggested Citation:"Carl Covalt Chambers." National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Memorial Tributes: Volume 5. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1966.
×
Page 48
Suggested Citation:"Carl Covalt Chambers." National Academy of Engineering. 1992. Memorial Tributes: Volume 5. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1966.
×
Page 49

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

CARL C OVALT C HAM B E RS 1907-1987 WRITTEN BY S. REID WARREN, JR. SUBMITTED BY THE NAE HOME SECRETARY CA1lL COVALT CHAMBERS died suddenly on November 25, 1987, in Palm Harbor, Florida, where he had lived with his wife, Margaret Morrison Chambers, since his retirement from the University of Pennsylvania in 1975. Dr. Chambers' wide-ranging career included contributions to the fields of teaching, research, consulting, and administra- tion in his university and in several national and international professional societies. Dr. Chambers received his B.S. from Dickinson College in 1929; he majored in mathematics. He worked in research and development for RCA in Camden, New Jersey, (three years) and in research at the Bartol Research Foundation of The Franklin Institute (one year), before his appointment as an instructor of electrical engineering in the Moore School of Electrical Engi- neering, University of Pennsylvania, in 1933. At that time he had already completer! most of the course work for the D.Sc. (elec- trical engineering) at the university; the (legree was awarded in 1934. Dr. Chambers designed and presented both undergraduate and graduate courses and courses organized for special purpos- es during World War II. He was known and respected for his unconventional but effective methods of stimulating his stu- dents to learn for themselves rather than to be instructed by 47

48 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES lecture and examination. He was one of the first to present courses in physical electronics. In research he was particularly versatile. His work at RCA and Bartol was essentially scientific research in the held of cold emission from metal surfaces at high field gradients. In contrast, during World War II he participated in and directed classified projects in short-range communication and radio interference under grants from the Office of Scientific Research and Devel- opment and the Office of Naval Research. At the same time, he supervised a program of courses offered at the university under the Engineering, Science, and Management War Training Pro- gram. Dr. Chambers was supervisor of research in the Moore School from 1947 to 1949. He had been promoter] through the several ranks to become professor of electrical engineering in 1947. He became clean of the Moore School in 1949. He served as vice- president for engineering affairs from 1953 to 1972, when he fostered a reorganization of the engineering departments into a more unified structure. Carl Chambers served as consultant to many companies, including Brooke Engineering Company t1934-1954), auto- matic industrial controls; Edward Stern & Company (1936- 1954), research into improved methods of photoengraving and lithography; International Resistance Company (1944-1954), design of an automatic bridge to sort resistors to preselected tolerances; and Hazeltine Corporation (1939-1940), extensive consultations cluring an extended research planning confer- ence on FM and TV system designs. As a result of this work, he was awarded eight patents. In spite of the demands of his academic position, Dr. Cham- bers welcomed opportunities to contribute to the activities of professional societies including the American Institute of Elec- trical Engineers (fellow 1932~; Institute of Radio Engineers (fellow 1929~; Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (life fellow 1963~; National Society of Professional Engineers; Engineers Joint Council; American Society for Engineering Education (fellowl946,presidentl968-69~.Hewasparticularly interested in the International Electrotechnical Commission

CARL COVALT CHAMBERS 49 (IEC) (1946-70~. He served as member and chairman of two technical committees of IEC, helped to organize the 1954 and 1970 IEC meetings in the United States, and was a delegate to many IEC meetings throughout the world. Car! Chambers was honored by election to membership in several engineering honor societies; by his selection as Engineer of the Year in the Delaware Valley in 1966; and in particular, by his election into membership in the National Academy of Engi- neering in 1970. Carl Chambers was a careful, even-handed, unbiased admin- istrator. He would discuss problems with his colleagues, state what he thought should be done, and listen to responses. After a decision had been reached, he expected the responsible colleagues to implement it. Thus, as indicated above, his innate ability to manage led to his selection for positions of high responsibility.

Next: Arthur A. Collins »
Memorial Tributes: Volume 5 Get This Book
×
Buy Hardback | $107.00
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF
  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!