John D. Kraus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John D. Kraus was an American Electrical Engineer. A Long time Professor at the Ohio State University, he is widely known for his contributions to Electromagnetics, Radio Astronomy and Antenna theory. His inventions include the Helical Antenna, the Corner Reflector and several other types of antennas. He designed the Big Ear radio telescope at the Ohio State University which was constructed mostly by a team of OSU students. Kraus holds several patents and has many research publications to his credit. He authored the following books:

• Antennas, published by Mc-Graw Hill - some times called "Antenna Bible"
• Electromagnetics, published by Mc-Graw Hill
• Radio Astronomy, published by Cygnus-Quasar
• Big Ear
• Our Cosmic Universe

Kraus was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan (June 28, 1910 - July 18, 2004) and receivced his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Michigan in 1933. Following the completion of his Ph. D., he was involved in research in nuclear physics with Michigan's newly constructed 100-ton cyclotron. Indeed he was a member of the team that designed and built it. During World War II he worked on degausing ships for the US navy and on radar counter measures at Harvard University. After the war Dr. Kraus joined the Ohio State University, where he later became the director of the Radio Observatory and McDougal Professor (Emeritus) of Electrical Engineering and Astronomy.

Kraus is the recipient of the following honours:

• US Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 1946
• Elected to Fellow of the IEEE in 1954
• Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1972
• Sullivant Medal in 1970, the Outstanding Achievement Award of the University of Michigan in 1981
• Distinguished Achievement Award of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society
• IEEE Centennial medal in 1984
• IEEE Edison medal in 1985
• IEEE Heinrich Hertz medal in 1990

[edit] References

Kraus, John D. Electromagnetics, McGraw-Hill, 1992. ISBN 0-07-035621-1