Ernst Weber
PRD Electronics
September 6, 1901 - February 15, 1996
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Scientific Discipline: Engineering Sciences Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1965)
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Ernst Weber was an electrical engineer who made major contributions to microwave technology and turned the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn into one of America’s most prominent scientific engineering centers. He introduced graduate instruction to the institute and oversaw many of the theses presented. During his presidency, he organized a successful war program that developed precision microwave attenuators to provide a much-needed accurate calibration of radars. This program led to the establishment of the Microwave Research Institute (later named the Department of Electrophysics), a research branch for the Department of Electrical Engineering. Weber developed over thirty patents in the field of microwave techniques, and they paved the way for future research in the field.
Weber went to Technical University in Vienna, Austria and received his Dipl. Ing. (in electrical engineering), PhD, and ScD in 1924, 1926, and 1927, respectively. In 1930, Weber was asked to be a visiting professor at the Electrical Engineering Department of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (PIB). However, he decided to stay at the institution and became a research professor. From 1942 to 1945, he served as the professor of Graduate Electrical Engineering and as Head of Graduate Study and Research. Weber was the co-founder (director from 1944-1959 and president from 1952-1959) of the Polytechnic Research and Development Co., Inc. In 1957, he became the president of PIB, and held the position for almost twelve years. He left the institute in 1969 to become the chairman of the division of engineering for the National Research Council. Weber was a founding fellow and president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) in 1963. He was also affiliated with the American Physical Society, the American Society for Engineering Education, the New York Electrical Society (president from 1946-1947), and the American Institute for Electrical Engineers (AIEE; president in 1959). For his vast contributions, Weber received the Presidential Certificate of Merit in 1948, the Outstanding Civilian Service Award from the U.S. Army in 1969, the Distinguished Service Award from the National Research Council in 1976, and the National Medal of Science in 1987.
