Julius A. Stratton

Biography

Born at Seattle, WA on 18 May 1901, Julius A. Stratton attended the University of Washington for one year until he went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to obtain his bachelor's degree in 1923 and master's degree in 1925. He then did graduate study in Grenoble and Toulouse, France, and the Technische Hochschule of Zurich, Switzerland, awarded him the degree of Doctor of Science in 1927. During the following year he studied under a traveling scholarship from M.I.T., chiefly at Munich and Leipzig, Germany.

Stratton joined the staff of M.I.T. in 1928 to serve in the electrical engineering and physics departments for twenty years. In 1945,he was appointed Director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics. He was named Provost of M.I.T. in 1949, and in 1951 he became vice-president as well. In 1956 he was named to the newly-created post of Chancellor. As Chancellor, Stratton ad- ministered the academic program of the institution, acted as deputy to the president, and served as general executive officer.

During World War II he served as Expert Consultant in the Office of the Secretary of War, and was awarded its Medal for Merit in 1946.

Stratton was is a Fellow of the American Institute of Physics and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Sciences, Tau Beta Pi, and Sigma Xi. He is an appointed trustee of the Ford Foundation, and one of the nine-member National Science Board of the National Science Foundation.

Stratton was the author of numerous technical papers and books on theoretical physics, especially electromagnetic theory. His many activities included membership on the Defense Science Board, the National Science Foundation Advisory Committee on Government-University Relations, and the Naval Research Advisory Committee.

He became an IRE Member in 1942, a Senior Member in 1943, and a Fellow in 1945. He served on the Board of Directors from 1948-1951, and again in 1954. He headed the Radio Wave Propagation and Utilization Technical Committee from 1945 to 1948.

Stratton received the IRE Medal of Honor in 1957, "For his inspiring leadership and outstanding contributions to the development of radio engineering as a teacher, physicist, engineer, author, and administrator." (Editors Note: Stratton passed away on 22 June 1994).