List of Presidents of the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE)

IRE Presidents, 1912-1962

IRE Past Presidents, 1966. L-R, George Bailey, Arthur V. Loughren, Donald G. Fink, John D. Ryder, Donald B. Sinclair, Haraden Pratt, Stuart L. Bailey, Alfred N. Goldsmith, Ivan S. Coggeshall, Ernst Weber, Frederick B. Llewellyn

Robert H. Marriott, 1912, completed the first Pacific Coast commercial broadcasting system operative between an island off the coast of California and the California mainland. Also, he was the first man in America to use the telephone and detector method for radio reception.

Greenleaf W. Pickard, 1913, received a patent for a silicon crystal detector in 1906, and he founded the Wireless Specialty Apparatus Company in order to market his detectors.

Louis W. Austin, 1914, worked at the Bureau of Standards, where he studied radio propagation studies. He also supervised a radio laboratory at the Bureau of Standards.

John Stone Stone, 1915, invented the Stone common battery, and served as associate engineer for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company’s research and development department.

Arthur E. Kennelly, 1916, co-founded the Heaviside-Kennelly layer in the ionosphere with Oliver Heaviside in 1901, which contributed to the study of radio waves.

Michael I. Pupin, 1917, taught mathematical physics at Columbia University. He also studied wave propagation, and applied his findings to long distance telephony experiments and research.

George W. Pierce, 1918-19, is considered to be one of the founding fathers of communication engineering.

John V. L. Hogan, 1920, was one of the founders of the classical music radio station WQXR. He was also the founder of the Society of Wireless Telegraph Engineers.

Ernst F. W. Alexanderson, 1921, invented a self-exciting alternator. He also designed a series of high-frequency alternators for radio use.

Fulton Cutting, 1922, was former president and chairman of the Colonial Radio Corporation in Buffalo, New York.

Irving Langmuir, 1923, worked at the General Electric Research Laboratory, and helped to modernize vacuum tube engineering.

John Harold Morecroft, 1924, was an engineering professor at Pratt Institute and Columbia University, and he served as a scientific expert to the U.S. Navy.

John H. Dellinger, 1925, was vice president of the International Scientific Radio Union, and served as chairman of the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics.

Donald M. McNicol, 1926, worked for land-line telegraph companies, and published three books about telegraph engineering.

Ralph Bown, 1927, focused on improving long-distance communication, and he led the press conference that announced the invention of the transistor.

Alfred N. Goldsmith, 1928, began working for RCA as the director of research, and later became vice president and general manager of the company.

Albert Hoyt Taylor, 1929, was in charge of the Aircraft Radio Laboratory, and he later directed a radar development project for ships to use in order to detect enemy ships and aircraft.

Lee de Forest, 1930, patented the Audion, which is a three element vacuum tube that was a sensitive wireless receptor, in 1907.

Ray H. Manson, 1931, was the chief engineer for the Stromberg-Carlson Telephone Manufacturing Company in Rochester, New York. He also received over fifty U.S. patents relating to the telephone, phonograph, and radio.

Walter G. Cady, 1932, studied crystal resonators in radio frequency applications, which later led to him being granted two patents for his research in 1922.

Lewis M. Hull, 1933, was the director of research and later the vice president of the Radio Frequency Laboratories.

C. M. Jansky, Jr., 1934, helped to establish government radio regulation, and he also worked to create the National Association of Broadcasters.

Charles Stuart Ballantine, 1935, discovered the antenna effect in coil-type systems, and he invented the capacity compensator for these systems.

Alan Hazeltine, 1936, designed the SE 1420, which was used on destroyers, and the Neutrodyne, which aided broadcast reception.

Harold H. Beverage, 1937, supervised the development of receivers for transoceanic communications at RCA, which led to a patent for the Beverage Antenna.

Haraden Pratt, 1938, served as vice president and general manager of the International Telephone and Telegraph Company.

Raymond A. Heising, 1939, researched ultra-short waves, electronics, and piezoelectric crystal devices. He also invented the Heising modulation system, among other modulation systems.

Lawrence C. F. Horle, 1940

Frederick E. Terman, 1941

Arthur F. Van Dyck, 1942

Lynde P. Wheeler, 1943

Hubert M. Turner, 1944

William L. Everitt, 1945

Frederick B. Llewellyn, 1946

Walter R. G. Baker, 1947

Benjamin E. Shackelford, 1948 

Stuart L. Bailey, 1949

Raymond F. Guy, 1950

Ivan S. Coggeshall, 1951

Donald B. Sinclair, 1952

James W. McRae, 1953

William R. Hewlett, 1954

John D. Ryder, 1955

Arthur V. Loughren, 1956

John T. Henderson, 1957 

Donald G. Fink, 1958

Ernst Weber, 1959

Ronald L. McFarlan, 1960 

Lloyd V. Berkner, 1961

Patrick E. Haggerty, 1962

See also Presidents of the AIEE and Presidents of the IEEE.