J. Guy Woodward

Biography

Dr. J. Guy Woodward was born on November 19, 1914 in Carleton, Michigan. He grew up in different areas of Michigan as well as Naperville, Illinois. He moved frequently because of his father’s job as a minister. Woodward graduated in 1932 from his high school in St. Joseph, Michigan. He returned to Naperville after graduation to attend North Central College. He was not only gifted in the sciences, but he was also an athlete and musician. He played tennis and was a member of “The Barnyard Four,” a comedic bluegrass band.

Dr. Woodward continued his studies at the graduate level, and received his master’s degree in physics from Michigan State College and his Ph.D. in physics from the Ohio State University in 1942. He began his career at RCA that same year. Over the course of his forty years at RCA, Dr. Woodward contributed to the development of various sound and recording technological systems. In 1953, he and his team gave a public demonstration of video tape recording of color and black-and-white television signals. He held 7 patents.

Dr. Woodward was a member of numerous professional organizations including the IEEE, Sigma Xi, and the Acoustical Society of America. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and also served as the president of the Audio Engineering Society. Dr. Woodward received several awards throughout his career including the Audio Engineering Society Emile Berliner Award (1963) and the North Central College Outstanding Alumnus Award (1973).

Dr. Woodward’s love for music and tennis continued throughout the rest of his life. He sang in the Princeton United Methodist choir for 55 years, played trumpet in the Blawenburg Band, and was also a member of the Princeton Scuba Club. Dr. Woodward was not only a singer and trumpet player, but an avid piano player as well.

Dr. Woodward died in Plainsboro, New Jersey of August 16, 2000.