Arthur V. Loughren (September 15, 1902 – December 14, 1993) was an American

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

who played a prominent role in the development of

NTSC NTSC (from National Television System Committee) is the first American standard for analog television, published and adopted in 1941. In 1961, it was assigned the designation System M. It is also known as EIA standard 170. In 1953, a second ...

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

. Loughren was born in

Rensselaer, New York Rensselaer is a city in Rensselaer County, New York, United States, and is located on the east side of the Hudson River, opposite Albany and on the western border of Rensselaer County. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 9,210. ...

, and received his BA (1923) and EE (1925) degrees from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He then worked at

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

in its

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, thermionic valve (British usage), or tube (North America) is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. It ...

engineering department 1925–1927; radio engineering department 1927–1929;

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

engineering department 1930–1934; and radio receiver engineering section 1934–1936. In 1936 he joined

Hazeltine Corporation Hazeltine Corporation was an American Defense industry, defense electronics company, active from 1924 until 1986. It was acquired in 1986 by the Emerson Electric Company, and is part of BAE Systems Inc. since 1999. History 1924–1986 The compan ...

, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

helped develop

IFF In logic and related fields such as mathematics and philosophy, "if and only if" (often shortened as "iff") is paraphrased by the biconditional, a logical connective between statements. The biconditional is true in two cases, where either both ...

equipment for the Navy, and afterwards directed its research on

color television Color television (American English) or colour television (British English) is a television transmission technology that also includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improv ...

. He died at his home in

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Kailua-Kona is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is most commonly referred to simply as Kona (a name it shares wit ...

. Loughren was a fellow of the

Institute of Radio Engineers The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was a professional organization which existed from 1912 until December 31, 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to form the Institute of Electrical ...

, the

American Institute of Electrical Engineers The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) was a United States–based organization of electrical engineers that existed from 1884 through 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) to form the Inst ...

, and the

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) (, rarely ), founded by Charles Francis Jenkins in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is a global professional association of engineers, technologists, and e ...

. He received the 1953 SMPTE

David Sarnoff David Sarnoff (February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was a Russian and American businessman who played an important role in the American history of radio and television. He led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) for most of his career in ...

Medal Award "for his contributions to the development of compatible color television, including his active work on the principle of constant luminance; for his participation in color video standards activities; and for his guidance in compatible color television", and the 1955

IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award The initially called Morris Liebmann Memorial Prize provided by the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), the IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award was created in 1919 in honor of Colonel Morris N. Liebmann. It was initially given to awardees who h ...

"for his leadership and technical contributions in the formulation of the signal specification for compatible color television". Loughren was president of the

in 1956.

References

External links

IEEE Obituary
* "Arthur V. Loughren, Director, 1953", ''Proceedings of the IRE'', volume 41, issue 12, December 1953, pages 1698-1698.
Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers, Volume 26, Number 5, May 1938
* Albert Abramson, ''The History of Television, 1942 to 2000'', McFarland & Company, 2003, page 44. ISBN {{DEFAULTSORT:Loughren, Arthur V. 1902 births 1993 deaths American electrical engineers Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni People from Rensselaer, New York Engineers from New York (state) 20th-century American engineers