Robert Gordon Kouyoumjian (April 26, 1923 – January 3, 2011) was an American electrical engineer and physicist who was a professor emeritus at the Department of Electrical Engineering at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. He is best known for the development

uniform theory of diffraction In numerical analysis, the uniform theory of diffraction (UTD) is a high-frequency method for solving electromagnetic scattering problems from electrically small discontinuities or discontinuities in more than one dimension at the same point. R. G. ...

with his doctoral student Prabhakar Pathak.

Biography

Robert Gordon Kouyoumjian was born on April 26, 1923, in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. 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 ...

, he served in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

as a captain, and was trained in

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

. Attending electronics lectures at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, he was involved early development of

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

meteorology during this period. After the war, he completed his undergraduate education at

, receiving a degree 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 ...

in 1948. He subsequently completed his doctoral studies under Victor H. Rumsey, receiving a PhD degree in physics in 1953 from Ohio State University. In the following year, he joined the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the same institution. He was promoted to full professorship in 1962 and retired in 1982 becoming a professor emeritus. While he remained active as an instructor for some years following his retirement, he continued his research work almost until the end of his life. He died on January 3, 2011, and was survived by three children and four grandhcildren. Kouyoumjian's early work during the 1950s involved the development of variational solutions for certain classes of electromagnetic problems, which went on the become early forerunners for method of moments. His other work during this period also featured the areas of

radar cross section Radar cross-section (RCS), denoted σ, also called radar signature, is a measure of how detectable an object is by radar. A larger RCS indicates that an object is more easily detected. An object reflects a limited amount of radar energy b ...

s, antenna polarization analysis, thermal properties of electromagnetic waves, and

underwater acoustics Underwater acoustics (also known as hydroacoustics) is the study of the propagation of sound in water and the interaction of the mechanical waves that constitute sound with the water, its contents and its boundaries. The water may be in the oce ...

. During the 1960s, his work gravitated towards

asymptotic In analytic geometry, an asymptote () of a curve is a line such that the distance between the curve and the line approaches zero as one or both of the ''x'' or ''y'' coordinates Limit of a function#Limits at infinity, tends to infinity. In pro ...

high-frequency methods, and he sought to extend the geometrical theory of diffraction, developed by

Joseph Keller Joseph Bishop Keller (July 31, 1923 – September 7, 2016) was an American mathematician who specialized in applied mathematics. He was best known for his work on the "geometrical theory of diffraction" (GTD). Early life and education Born i ...

. Following a series of works on the topic with multiple doctoral students, he introduced the

with his doctoral student Prabhakar Pathak in the 1970s. The theory was subsequently used in the analysis of various electrically large radiation and scattering problems in engineering, such as indoor and outdoor

radio propagation Radio propagation is the behavior of radio waves as they travel, or are wave propagation, 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 w ...

. In 1995, he was elected to the

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 ...

, "for contributions to the development of the uniform geometric theory of diffraction and the analysis and design of antennas and scatterers." He has received

IEEE Centennial Medal The IEEE Centennial Medal was a medal minted and awarded in 1984 ''to persons deserving of special recognition for extraordinary achievement'' to celebrate the Centennial of the founding of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (I ...

in 1984, Antennas and Propagation Society Distinguished Achievement Award in 1999, and the IEEE Third Millennium Medal in 2000. He was a member of the Commission B of the

International Union of Radio Science The International Union of Radio Science (abbreviated ''URSI'', after its French name, ) is one of 26 international scientific unions affiliated to the International Council for Science (ICSU). History and objectives URSI was officially cr ...

Selected publications

;Book chapters * ;Journal articles * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Robert G. Kouyoumjian
at

official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Kouyoumjian, Robert Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering 1923 births Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Ohio State University faculty American electrical engineers American telecommunications engineers American microwave engineers American people of Armenian descent IEEE Centennial Medal laureates 20th-century American engineers 21st-century American engineers 20th-century American physicists 21st-century American physicists Scientists from Cleveland Academics from Columbus, Ohio 2011 deaths Fellows of the IEEE