In Memoriam: Eugene Sard, IEEE Felow

In Memoriam

I was saddened to learn that Eugene Sard, an IEEE Fellow, died recently. He had a career at AIL (now Harris) spanning more than 40 years, starting in 1948. His 1973 Fellow award citation was, “For contributions to the field of a low-noise microwave, millimeter wave, and infrared receivers”. He made many basic contributions to the theory and design of low-noise microwave amplifiers in the 1950’s and 1960’s that helped to make AIL an international leader in this technology.He subsequently made similar advances in millimeter and infrared receiver technology. Those of us, that had the privilege of working and knowing him, were also struck by his very high ethical and moral standards. We will miss him.

Jesse Taub


Eugene W. Sard

Eugene graduated from MIT with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering when he was 20 years old in February 1944. He had entered the Navy Reserves the prior summer and immediately shipped out to the Pacific Theater after graduation. Eugene would have been part of the invasion of Japan had the war not ended. Eugene left the service in 1946 and received his M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT in September 1948. He began working for Airborne Instruments Laboratory (AIL) as an electrical engineer soon thereafter and worked there (although ownership/name changed) for 40 years until his retirement in 1989. Eugene was an inventor on some early semiconductor patents.

Eugene was an avid contract bridge player, folk dancer, and faithful fan of both the New York Mets and the New York Giants. Eugene loved to do the Sunday New York Times Crossword puzzle and was the author of several daily puzzles published in the Times. After retirement, Eugene and his beloved wife Edith traveled extensively and Eugene volunteered as a math tutor in a local GED program.

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