James R. Wait was a Canadian

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 ...

and engineering physicist.G..QT.&newsearch=true Sato, G.''In memory of Dr. James R. Wait''

IEEE Antennas & Propagation Society The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE has a corporate office i ...

, IEEE. Volume 41, Issue 2, April 1999, pp. 44–46. In 1977, he was elected as a member of

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

in Electronics, Communication & Information Systems Engineering for his contributions to

electromagnetic propagation Radio propagation is the behavior of radio waves as they travel, or are propagated, from one point to another in vacuum, or into various parts of the atmosphere. As a form of electromagnetic radiation, like light waves, radio waves are affected ...

engineering as it affects communication and geophysical exploration.James R. Wait was elected in 1977
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Biography

Wait was born in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, on January 23, 1924, received his BS (1948) and MS (1949) in

engineering physics Engineering physics (EP), sometimes engineering science, is the field of study combining pure science disciplines (such as physics, mathematics, chemistry or biology) and engineering disciplines (computer, nuclear, electrical, aerospace, medic ...

and his PhD (1951) in

electrical engineering 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 ...

, all from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. Between 1948 and 1951, he worked for

Newmont Exploration Newmont Corporation is an American gold mining company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado. It is the world's largest gold mining corporation. Incorporated in 1921, it holds ownership of gold mines in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Do ...

Jerome, Arizona Jerome is a town in the Black Hills (Yavapai County), Black Hills of Yavapai County, Arizona, Yavapai County in the U.S. state of Arizona. Founded in the late 19th century on Cleopatra Hill overlooking the Verde Valley, Jerome is approximately ...

, where his research led to several patents in both IP and EM methods of

geophysical prospecting Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

. After a brief stint with the Defense Research Communications establishment in

, Wait first joined the

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sc ...

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

, and then

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...

; at each, he concentrated predominantly on theoretical aspects of

radio-wave propagation Radio propagation is the behavior of radio waves as they travel, or are propagated, from one point to another in vacuum, or into various parts of the atmosphere. As a form of electromagnetic radiation, like light waves, radio waves are affected ...

. Gertrude L Norman was his spouse, married in 1951 in Jerome AZ, deceased in 2010, Tucson, AZ. He had two Children, Laura H Wait, born 1954 in Ottawa Canada. She is a well known artist, living in Santa Fe. NM. Jim's son George, born in Boulder, CO in 1956, died in 2010 in Tucson, AZ. George had two children James and Carolyn. Jim has two great grandchildren. He held numerous teaching and visiting scientist research positions at various prestigious

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and

research establishment A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural sc ...

s all over the world. In 1980, he was appointed

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of electrical engineering and

geoscience Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

s at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

in Tucson and in 1988 became one of the prestigious Regents' Professors. He died October 1, 1998, at his home in

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

Publications

Some representative of Prof. Wait's crucial journal publications ;In

IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation ''IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the IEEE Antennas & Propagation Society. It covers research on and applications of all aspects of antenna technology and the propagation of ele ...

# 1953 Radiation from a vertical electric dipole over a stratified ground # 1954 Radiation from a vertical dipole over a stratified ground (Part II) # 1956 On the conductance of slots # 1956 Effect of the ground screen on the field radiated from a monopole # 1957 The transient behavior of the electromagnetic ground wave on a spherical earth # 1958 Pattern of an antenna on a curved lossy surface # 1958 On the measurement of ground conductivity at VLF # 1959 Guiding of electromagnetic waves by uniformly rough surfaces : Part I # 1959 Guiding of electromagnetic waves by uniformly rough surfaces : Part II # 1959 U.S.A. national committee report URSI subcommission 6.3 antennas and waveguides, and annotated bibliography # 1960 On the excitation of electromagnetic surface waves on a curved surface # 1961 Resonance characteristics of a corrugated cylinder excited by a magnetic dipole # 1962 Effective impedance of a wire grid parallel to the earth's surface # 1963 Preface: Special issue on electromagnetic waves in the earth # 1963 The possibility of guided electromagnetic waves in the earth's crust # 1963 Curves for ground wave propagation over mixed land and sea paths # 1964 Propagation of radio waves past a coast line with a gradual change of surface impedance # 1964Influence of a disc-shaped ionospheric depression on VLF propagation # 1965 Propagation of electromagnetic pulses in terrestrial waveguides # 1966 Radiation from a spherical antenna immersed in a compressible plasma # 1966 Influence of a sub-surface insulating layer on electromagnetic ground wave propagation # 1967 Asymptotic theory for dipole radiation in the presence of a lossy slab lying on a conducting half-space # 1968 Radio propagation over a cylindrical hill including the effect of a surmounted obstacle # 1968 Correction to "The whispering gallery nature of the earth-ionosphere waveguide at VLF" # 1969 On mode conversion of VLF radio waves at a land-sea boundary # 1970 Theory of a vertical tubular antenna located above a conducting half-space # 1972 Normal mode model for electromagnetic propagation in the earth crust waveguide # 1972 Electromagnetic pulse transmission in homogeneous dispersive rock # 1972 Subsurface electromagnetic fields of a circular loop of current located above ground # 1972 Electromagnetic scattering from a wire grid parallel to a planar stratified medium # 1972 Subsurface electromagnetic fields of a circular loop of current located above ground # 1972 Range dependence of the surface impedance and wave tilt for a line-source excited two-layer earth # 1973 Effect of edge reflections on the performance of antenna ground screens # 1974 Guided electromagnetic waves along an axial conductor in a circular tunnel # 1974 Diffusion of electromagnetic pulses into the earth from a line source # 1975 On the electromagnetic field of a dielectric coated coaxial cable with an interrupted shield # 1975 The transient electric field response of an array of parallel wires on the Earth's surface # 1975 Note on excitation of the electromagnetic earth-crust waveguide # 1975 Electromagnetic fields of a dielectric coated coaxial cable with an interrupted shield—Quasi-static approach # 1977 Effect of a lossy jacket on the external field of a coaxial cable with an interrupted shield # 1977 Radio frequency transmission via a trolley wire in a tunnel with a rail return # 1994 Comments on "Propagation of EM pulses excited by electric dipole in a conducting medium" # 1991 EM scattering from a vertical column of ionization in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide # 2000 On the convergence of a perturbation series solution for reflection from periodic rough surfaces ;Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium # 1963 Oblique propagation of radio waves across a coast line with a sloping beach # 1966 Influence of a sub-surface insulating layer on electromagnetic ground wave propagation # 1966 Illumination of an inhomogeneous spherical earth by an LF plane electromagnetic wave # 1972 Effect of edge reflections on the performance of antenna ground screens # 1973 On the pulse response of a dipole over an impedance surface # 1974 Guided electromagnetic waves along axial conductors in a circular tunnel # 1975 Electromagnetic fields of a dielectric coated coaxial cable with an interrupted shield # 1975 Electromagnetic wave transmission within the earth # 1976 Attenuation on a surface wave G-line suspended within a circular tunnel # 1979 Ground wave theory via normal modes – an historical perspective # 1999 A viable model for power focussing in a lossy cylinder ;In

IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques ''IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques'' (T-MTT) is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal with a focus on that part of engineering and theory associated with microwave/millimeter-wave technology and components, electronic devi ...

# 1956 Currents Excited on a Conducting Surface of Large Radius of Curvature # 1957 The Impedance of a Wire Grid Parallel to a Dielectric Interface # 1967 On the Theory of Shielded Surface Waves # 1975 Propagation Along a Braided Coaxial Cable in a Circular Tunnel # 1976 Electromagnetic Theory of the Loosely Braided Coaxial Cable: Part I # 1976 Propagation Along a Braided Coaxial Cable Located Close to a Tunnel Wall (Short Papers) # 1977 Influence of Spatial Dispersion of the Shield Transfer Impedance of a Braided Coaxial Cable (Letters) ;In IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing # 1971 Electromagnetic Induction Technique for Locating a Buried Source # 1987 Resistivity and Induced Polarization Response for a Borehole Model # 1989 Comments, with reply, on "Electric field sensors in electromagnetic sounding" by Wu Xiao Wu and David V. Thiel ;In IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility # 1974 Comments on "Shielding Performance of Metallic Cylinders" and Comments by C. W. Harrison, Jr., and Reply by D. Schieber # 1974 Comments on "The Use of the Lorentz Reciprocity Theorem to Prove Equality of the Open Circuit Voltages of a Receiving Dipole and a Monopole" # 1976 Analysis of Radio Frequency Transmission along a Trolley Wire in a Mine Tunnel # 1977 Electromagnetic Surface Wave Propagation over a Bonded Wire Mesh # 1977 Electromagnetic Field Analysis for a Coaxial Cable with Periodic Slots # 1989 Reply to comments on Wait's "In defense of J.A. Stratton" # 1994 Comments on "The EM field of an improved lightning return stroke representation" ;In the Proceedings of

Institution of Electrical Engineers The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and information technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of Tel ...

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

# 1952 The Magnetic Dipole Antenna Immersed in a Conducting Medium # 1953 Complex Magnetic Permeability of Spherical Particles # 1956 Radiation Patterns of Circumferential Slots on Moderately Large Conducting Cylinders # 1956 An investigation of slot radiators in rectangular metal plates # 1957 The Mode Theory of VLF Ionospheric Propagation for Finite Ground Conductivity # 1957 The Attenuation vs Frequency Characteristics of VLF Radio Waves # 1957 The Geometrical Optics of VLF Sky Wave Propagation # 1957 Introduction to the VLF Papers # 1959 Preface to the surface wave papers # 1960 The Resonance Excitation of a Corrugated-Cylinder Antenna # 1962 Introduction to the Theory of VLF Propagation # 1962 Average Decay Laws for VLF Fields # 1966 Some factors concerning electromagnetic wave propagation in the earth's crust # 1966 Groundwave propagation along three-section mixed paths # 1974 Recent analytical investigations of electromagnetic ground wave propagation over inhomogeneous earth models ;In

Electronics Letters '' Electronics Letters ''is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published biweekly by the Institution of Engineering and Technology. It specializes in the rapid publication of short communications on all areas of electronic engineering, including op ...

# 1966 Dipole resonances of a magnetoplasma column # 1966 Limiting behaviour of a thin plasma sheet for a transverse magnetic field # 1971 Influence of Earth curvature on the subsurface electromagnetic fields of a line source # 1971 Electromagnetic-pulse propagation in a simple dispersive medium # 1972 Transient magnetic fields produced by a step-function-excited loop buried in the earth # 1972 Absorption mode for e.l.f. electromagnetic propagation in the Earth-crust waveguide # 1972 Locating an oscillating magnetic dipole in the earth # 1973 Resistance of earth electrodes # 1976 Long-wave behaviour of the Beverage wave aerial # 1976 Analyses of electromagnetic scattering from wire-mesh structures ;In India, IEE-IERE Proceedings # 1970 Analysis of v.l.f. propagation in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide over a mixed land/sea path. Part I # 1970 Analysis of v.l.f. propagation in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide over a mixed land/sea path. Part II # 1970 Transient analysis for an electric dipole on a disk ground screen ;In

IEEE Transactions on Communications ''IEEE Transactions on Communications'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the IEEE Communications Society that focuses on all aspects of telecommunication technology, including telephone, telegraphy, facsimile, and point-t ...

# 1974 Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Propagation Along a Horizontal Wire Located Above or Buried in the Earth # 1974 Historical Background and Introduction to the Special Issue on Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Communications # 1975 Coupling Between a Radiating Coaxial Cable and a Dipole Antenna # 1976 Calculated Channel Characteristics of a Braided Coaxial Cable in a Mine Tunnel ;In IEEE Transactions on Communication Technology # 1971 Subsurface Electromagnetic Telecommunication—A Review ;In IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting # 1974 Comments on "Transmission of Circular Polarized Waves Between Elevated Antenna" ;In IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering # 1977 Propagation of ELF electromagnetic waves and project sanguine/seafarer ;In IEEE International Conference on Engineering in the Ocean Environment, Ocean 72 # 1972 The sanguine concept ;In International Conference on Mathematical Methods in Electromagnetic Theory, 1998. MMET 98. 1998 # 1998 VLF scattering from red sprites: vertical columns of ionisation in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide ;In IRE Transactions on Communications Systems # 1958 Transmission Loss Curves for Propagation at Very Low Radio Frequencies ;In IEEE Transactions on Education # 1970 A Pitfall in the Scalar Electromagnetic Formulation of Kirchhoff Theory ;In

Journal of the Acoustical Society of America The ''Journal of the Acoustical Society of America'' (JASA) is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of acoustics. It is published by the Acoustical Society of America. The editor-in-chief is James F. Lynch (Woods Hole O ...

# 1954 Reflection from a mirror surface with an absorbent coating ;In Applied Scientific Research B # 1954 Reflection at arbitrary incidence from a parallel wire grid, 4, pp. 393–400. ;In

Canadian Journal of Physics The ''Canadian Journal of Physics'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in physics. It was established in 1929 as the '' Canadian Journal of Research, Section A: Physical Sciences'', obtaining its current title in 1951. ...

# 1955, Scattering of a plane wave from a circular dielectric cylinder at oblique incidence, 33, pp. 189–195. ;In

Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers Transaction or transactional may refer to: Commerce *Financial transaction, an agreement, communication, or movement carried out between a buyer and a seller to exchange an asset for payment *Debits and credits in a Double-entry bookkeeping syst ...

# 1949 Detection of Overheated Transmission Line Joints by Means of a Bolometer

Wait's books

* JR Wait, ''Electromagnetic Waves in Stratified Media''. 1962, Pergamon Press. * JR Wait, ''Electromagnetic wave theory''. 1985, Harper & Row New York. * JR Wait, ''Geo-electromagnetism''. 1982, Academic Press New York, NY. * JR Wait, ''Wave Propagation Theory''. 1981, New York: Pergamon. * JR Wait, ''Electromagnetics and plasmas''. 1968, Holt, Rinehart and Winston New York. * JR Wait, ''Electromagnetic Radiation from Cylindrical Structures''. 1959, Pergamon Press.

Patents

* James R. Wait, ''Method of geophysical exploration'', . June 1956. (Newmont Mining Corporation)

References

External articles

Recipients of the IEEE Heinrich Hertz Medal

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE has a corporate office ...