Memories of George W. Derby

The following are excerpts from correspondence submitted by George W. Derby (BSEE '33), of Janesville, Wis.

I had a 1920 Model T, with only torn curtains to provide protection from the freezing weather, no heater, poor tires, etc. Four of us from Racine, Wis., used the Model T to get home for Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. Would you believe one member was George Kehl, who became top professor of chemical engineering at Columbia? Russell Lange became a top research engineer with Bell Labs (AT&T). Ray Geraldson, a Phi Betta Kappa (Law School), rose to near the top of a huge international law firm based in Chicago.

George Derby with Dean Bollinger (37K JPG)

You guessed it, the fourth member, the owner of the Model T, did not reach recognition, unless you can "illegally" put forth some exaggeration from the following pages of technical experiences in the field of electrical engineering.

UW Instructors: First, the UW college of Engineering instructors were super, out of this world. Professor Kurt Wendt was a genius in expertly putting us through speedy courses. He later became dean of the College of Engineering, and rightly so.

All together, for EE students, the years of AC theory (and also DC theory), class work and lab sessions were so well organized, integrated and taught that a student could not escape becoming a very well educated electrical engineer.

We went blind using slide rules for thousands more hours of laboratory data collection, and plotting mathematical graphs for all lab experiments in all EE lab courses.

Fortunately, at Camp Randall, the ROTC Signal Corps had field type telephone systems, telegraphs, and elementary field radio equipment which gave me a start into my later, long career in electronics, radio, radar, FM, AM, VHF, UHF, microwave, telemetry, etc. They had super instructors, including Lt. Frank Meade and Lt. Kunesh.

[From 1934 to 1938, Mr. Derby was a project engineer at Webster Electronics, designing public address sound systems. From 1938 to 1941, he worked for Automatic Electrical as a radio and telephone engineer.]

Being an ROTC/EE grad and a Reservist, I was called early for duty to WWII. After short duty as a signal corps specialist with the U.S. Army Air Corps, I was quickly ordered to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for intense education, instruction, testing, fabrication, etc., of the first radar systems being developed, built and installed on American and British defensive and offensive military hardware (fighters and bombers).

I retired from the USAR in April 1964 with 32 years total military time (20 years full-time duty and 12 years Ready Reserve status).

From 1964 to 1972, I was employed as an instructor for the UW center of Racine and Kenosha, teaching full time.

I earned no award and I accomplished nothing for special recognition, but I kept going full speed ahead for many years thanks to UW and good health.

During the May 8-10, 1998 65th reunion for the class of 1933, the highlight of my three days was the College of Engineering's tour and dedication ceremony for the new materials research lab, and the impressive reception. I was the oldest college alumnus present.

Of the seven Class of '33 graduates on the committee for the reunion ceremonies, four were College of Engineering alumni: Larry Leifer (EE) Fred Mackie (EE), George Icke (CE) and myself.

[Derby also recognized the accomplishments of other students who attended UW-Madison and went on to have distinguished careers. They include: Russell Lange, George Kehl, Franklin Mathias, Geo Brown, Walter Wyss, Dick Engholdt, Vernon Schmidt, Gordon Stromberg, Robert Moe, Frank Palermo and Bernard Stahl].

Additional Comments:

Old publications (1929-36) available in the engineering library give striking photos of the old laboratories covering AC and DC electrical machinery, control circuits, transformers, etc., in some temporary, shaky building behind the old engineering building (near Science Hall).

Radio Station WHA has a published, fantastic, historical record of 60 years of photos, etc., giving due credit to all of those from the Department of Electrical Engineering who built the oldest radio transmitter station in the USA.

I cannot conclude this letter without paying tribute to the one engineering librarian (no assistant), Professor Volk. He employed me (part-time for evenings and Saturdays) to assist students in finding informational and published materials. (I think the pay in 1930 to 1934 was 25 cents per hour.) Professor Volk and his part-time student helpers had the added responsibility of publishing the monthly magazine, "Wisconsin Engineer."

Professor Volk may not have been fortunate enough to have information-retrieval and record-keeping digital computers, but his fantastic brain operated like a computer. His library management ability was fantastic.

Professor Volk would become totally engrossed in a student's problems. Furthermore, he was the most polite, congenial, helpful and compassionate person at UW Engineering.

George W. Derby (BSEE '33)
Janesville, WI