John R. Whinnery

Professor Emeritus

Research Areas

• Optoelectronics and electromagnetics

Biography

John R. Whinnery received both his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1937 and 1948, respectively. In the intervening years from 1937-1946, he was with the General Electric Company in Schenectady, New York, working on problems in waveguide discontinuities, microwave tubes, and applications to radar, which also aided the war effort. Upon returning to Berkeley in 1946, Whinnery joined the faculty as a Lecturer and, upon completion of his doctorate under Lester E. Reukema in 1948, became an Associate Professor and in quick succession a Full Professor. During his long tenure, Whinnery held various administrative positions at the University, beginning with the directorship of the Electronics Research Laboratory (1952-1956), followed by the chairmanship of the Electrical Engineering Division/Department (1956-1959), and finally as dean of the College of Engineering (1959-1963). In 1980 he was designated as a University Professor and was honored to receive the UC Berkeley Engineering Alumni Society's Distinguished Alumni Award. Upon his retirement as a Professor Emeritus in 1987, he was awarded the Berkeley Citation, one of the highest honors bestowed by the campus, for his extraordinary service to the University.

In his capacity as an academician, Prof. Whinnery authored or co-authored over 200 journal articles and conference papers, eventually becoming a leader in microwave and solid-state laser research with specialization in the communications applications of lasers with emphasis on short-pulse phenomena. He has published five books, the most noteworthy of which is the classic text, Fields and Waves in Modern Radio in 1944 (with Simon Ramo, whom Whinnery met while at GE) followed by a second edition in 1953, and its continuation version, Fields and Waves in Communication Electronics (with Simon Ramo and Theodore Van Duzer) in 1965, followed by two additional editions in 1984 and 1994.

As an educator, Whinnery's students continue to be leaders in the laser and optical communications field and that of the technology of solid-state devices. To name but a few, these are John A. Buck, Connie Chang-Hasnain, William M. Clark, Malcolm R. Currie, Chenming C. Hu, Erich P. Ippen, Ronald V. Schmidt, and Theodore Van Duzer.

Prof. Whinnery has received many honors during his career for his academic achievements; his qualities as an educator; and his distinguished service on numerous governmental and university advisory committees, as well as his administrative leadership at the University of California at Berkeley. A Fellow of the Optical Society of America and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Whinnery is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a life member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the IEEE, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He has been the recipient of the National Medal of Science (1992); the IEEE Medal of Honor (1985); the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society Microwave Career Award (1976) and its Centennial Medal (1984); the NAE Founders Award (1986); the ASEE Benjamin Garver Lamme Award (1974), and the Okawa Prize (1997). He has also received the IEEE Education Medal (1967) and was named an Outstanding Educator of America (1974).

Selected Publications

• G. Xu, R. Tsuji, K. Fujii, S. Nakayama, M. Amano, H. Kiyono, Y. Uchiyama, Y. Tokita, Y. Hanasawa, S. B. Mirov, M. J. McCutcheon, and J. R. Whinnery, "Mode control of semiconductor laser with diffraction and dispersion feedback," AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 369, no. Pt. 2, pp. 849-853, Aug. 1996.
• J. R. Whinnery, "Review of some photothermal effects," in Amazing Light -- A Volume Dedicated to Charles Hard Townes on His 80th Birthday, R. Y. Chiao, Ed., New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, 1996, pp. 643-649.
• J. R. Whinnery, John R. Whinnery, An Oral History, Regional Oral History Office, Berkeley, CA: The Regents of the University of California, 1996.
• J. R. Whinnery, "Lasers for optical communication," in Encyclopedia of Telecommunications: Introduction to Computer Networking to Methods for Usability Engineering in Equipment Design, F. E. Froehlich and A. Kent, Eds., 1st ed., Vol. 10, New York, NY: Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1995, pp. 209-232.
• S. Ramo, J. R. Whinnery, and T. Van Duzer, Fields and Waves in Communication Electronics, 3rd ed., New York, NY: Wiley, 1994.
• K. H. Gulden, M. Thomas, G. Wilson, J. Walker, G. H. Dohler, J. R. Whinnery, and J. S. Smith, "Selectively masked MBE regrowth," J. Crystal Growth, vol. 127, no. 1-4, pp. 896-899, Feb. 1993.
• X. Wu, K. H. Gulden, M. Thomas, J. S. Smith, J. R. Whinnery, S. Malzer, P. Kiesel, M. Kneissl, and G. H. Doehler, "Hetero-nipi band filling modulator with laterally interdigital contacts made by shadow mask molecular beam epitaxy regrowth," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 152-153, Jan. 1993.
• J. R. Whinnery, "Book review of "The Laser in America"," Science, vol. 258, no. 5082, pp. 676-678, Oct. 1992.
• S. M. Dijaili, J. M. Wiesenfeld, G. Raybon, C. A. Burrus Jr., A. Dienes, J. S. Smith, and J. R. Whinnery, "Cross-phase modulation in a semiconductor laser amplifier determined by a dispersive technique," IEEE J. Quantum Electronics, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 141-150, Jan. 1992.
• J. R. Whinnery, "Some relations between microwaves and optics," in 1991 IEEE MTT-S Intl. Microwave Symp. Digest, New York, NY: IEEE Press, 1991, pp. 19.
• D. Kuchta, J. R. Whinnery, J. S. Smith, J. M. Woodall, and D. Pettit, "Improved contacts to semi-insulating GaAs photoconductive switches using a graded layer of InGaAs," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 57, no. 15, pp. 1534-1536, Oct. 1990.
• S. P. Dijaili, J. M. Wiesenfeld, G. Raybon, C. Burrus, J. S. Smith, A. Dienes, and J. R. Whinnery, "Observation of cross-phase modulation in a semiconductor laser amplifier near 1.3 mu m," in Proc. OSA/IEEE LEOS Topical Meeting on Optical Amplifiers, Vol. 13, Washington, D.C.: Optical Society of America, 1990, pp. 123-123.
• W. Hsin, G. Du, J. K. Gamelin, K. J. Malloy, S. Wang, J. R. Whinnery, Y. J. Yang, T. G. Dziura, and S. C. Wang, "Low threshold distributed Bragg reflector surface emitting laser diode with semiconductor air-bridge-supported top mirror," Electronics Letters, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 307-308, March 1990.
• J. R. Whinnery, "The teaching of electromagnetics," IEEE Trans. Education, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 3-7, Feb. 1990.
• C. Chang-Hasnain, A. Dienes, J. R. Whinnery, W. Streifer, and D. R. Scifres, "Characteristics of the off-centered apertured mirror external cavity laser array," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 54, no. 6, pp. 484-486, Feb. 1989.
• S. P. Dijaili, J. S. Smith, J. R. Whinnery, and A. Dienes, "A novel method of analyzing optical pulse propagation: Dispersion of matrices and its application of ultra-high-speed time division multiplexed systems," in Proc. IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society 1st Annual Meeting (LEOS), Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press, 1988, pp. 146-148.
• J. R. Whinnery, Ed., Photonics -- Maintaining Competitiveness in the Information Era, National Research Council Reports, Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 1988.
• G. Hasnain, C. Chang-Hasnain, A. Dienes, and J. R. Whinnery, "Characteristics of a monolithically integrated doping superlattice optical circuit," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 52, no. 21, pp. 1765-1767, May 1988.
• G. Hasnain, J. R. Whinnery, A. Dienes, and D. Mars, "Wavelength bistable electroluminescence from GaAs doping superlattices," in Digest of Technical Papers, 8th Conf. on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO '88), Vol. 7, Washington, D.C.: Optical Society of America, 1988, pp. 123-123.
• C. Chang-Hasnain, J. R. Whinnery, A. Dienes, W. Streifer, and D. R. Scifres, "Theoretical analysis of the off-centered aperture mirror external cavity laser array," in Digest of Technical Papers, 8th Conf. on Lasers and Electro-Optics, Vol. 7, Washington, D.C.: Optical Society of America, 1988, pp. 123-123.