Dr. Lawrence Whicker, born October 3, 1934 in Knoxville, Tennessee, received his B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1957 and 1958 respectively. He started his career at Sperry Microwave systems before taking his Ph.D. at Purdue University, graduating in 1964.

From 1964-1970 Dr. Whicker was Manager of Microwave Physics at the Westinghouse Aerospace Division in Baltimore, MD. Work there consisted of the development of ferrite control components and microwave integrated circuits. In 1970 he became head of the Microwave Technology Branch at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. The position required the direction of 13 Ph.D. researchers and their staff. Areas of research included superconductivity, monolithic integrated circuits, surface acoustic waves, and microwave control components. In 1984 he rejoined the Westinghouse Company as manager of GaAs Technology. In 1987 he became Manager of GaAs Programs. He managed important programs including: GaAs Man-Tech Industry Consortium, RF (GaAs) Wafer Scale Integration, MAFET, and HDMP.

In December 1995, Dr. Whicker retired from industry. Until his sudden passing he was president of LRW Associates. Activities include consulting to DOD laboratories, acting as Administrator for the IEEE – MTT Society’s Technical Committees, and assisting in the organization and management of the IEEE MTT and RFIC Symposiums. He was an Adjunct Professor at the University of North-Carolina-Charlotte.

Dr. Whicker published over 100 papers in Ferrite Control Components and in Active Array Technology. He was Editor of two books on Ferrite Control Components. In 2000, he contributed a Chapter to a Book entitled “Analysis and Design Consideration for Monolithic Circuit Transmit-Receive (T-R) Modules”.

Dr. Whicker professional activities include serving as President of the MTT-Society, Chairing the IEEE TAB Periodicals Committee, IEEE TAB Meetings Committee, Administrator for the MTT and UFFC Societies, and serving as General Chair of the 1976 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium and the 1980 MTT-Symposium. He was made a Fellow of the IEEE in 1980. He received the IEEE Centennial Medal. In 1990 he received the “Aviation Week” LAURELS Award for RF-Wafer Scale Integration. He became a Life-Fellow of the IEEE in 2000.

Dr. Lawrence Whicker passed away on June 20, 2018.