Henry R. Chope

Biography

Henry Roy Chope was born in Louisville, Kentucky. Prior to World War II, he studied mathematics and physics at the University of Louisville. During the war he developed electronic and microwave systems for use in measuring meteorological variables and for storm detection.

After the war, he received a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from The Ohio State University where he was considered one of the most distinguished alumni. He holds advanced degrees from the California Institute of Technology (M.S. in Meteorology) and from Harvard University where he was awarded the S.M. in Engineering Sciences with distinction.

Mr. Chope developed electronic equipment for early rocket measurements of upper air phenomena while employed by the Air Force's Cambridge Research Laboratory in 1949-50.

In 1950 Henry R. Chope and his brother, Wilbert E. Chope, formed Industrial Nucleonics Corporation, Columbus, Ohio. He became Executive Vice-President in 1952 and presently holds this position as well as Director. Industrial Nucleonics was the first private company to specialize in the peace-time industrial applications of nucleonics (atomic energy). Henry Chope developed both nucleonics and radiofrequency measuring systems for determining properties of basic materials such as thickness, density, moisture content and hardness. He also developed various nonlinear automatic controllers and early on-line analog computers for process control. He was recognized for his leadership in the field of electronics.

Henry R. Chope was National President and Chairman of the Executive Council of the Tau Beta Pi Association, engineering honor society, and has devoted considerable effort to encouraging other young people to apply their talents to their profession and t.o the American business scene. He possesses the human as well as technical qualities that make him an outstanding professional engineer and contributing citizen.

Mr. Chope was a Fellow and member of council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was a National Director of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce and has served as a member of the Committee on Commercial Uses of Atomic Energy, and Science and Technology Committee, and the Patent System Advisory Panel. In addition he was active in the civic affairs of his community.

In recent years, Mr. Chope has served the government as a member of the Labor-Management Advisory Committee, the Committee on Isotopes and Radiation Developments of both the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission and the Ohio Atomic Energy Advisory Committee.

He has been recognized by his university for distinguished contributions to the field of Science and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Ohio State University in 1961. He was the holder of thirty-five patents, issued or pending, in the fields of nuclear energy, instrumentation, and process control; and he has written forty publications. He was a Senior Member of the IEEE.

Mr. Chope and Mrs. Chope, the former Lois Sherman, together with their two sons and two daughters resided in Columbus, Ohio.