Robert C. Hansen

Principal, R. C. Hansen, Incorporated, Tarzana, California

• PhD, Electrical Engineering , 1955

Dr. Robert C. Hansen enrolled at UIUC after serving in the United States Navy during the Second World War. Awarded his PhD in 1955, he then spent five years at Hughes Microwave Laboratory doing surface-wave and array antenna work. In 1960 he joined Space Technology Laboratories and later the Aerospace Corporation, where he was associate director of the Satellite Control Office. In 1967 he became head of the electronics division of KMS Industries. In these positions Dr. Hansen directed pioneer research and development work on the telemetry, tracking, and control of the first-generation communications satellite. He established his own firm, R. C. Hansen, Incorporated, in 1971.

Dr. Hansen is considered the preeminent consultant in antennas and electromagnetic by workers in the field. He is the editor and author of the three-volume work Microwave Scanning Antennas, which has become the standard reference book on the subject of antennas. He has written more than 50 papers on electromagnetic, and has served as editor of several other books and publication, including Microwave Journal and Radio Science.

In 1975, Dr. Hansen was awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering by the University of Missouri at Rolla, and he has been elected a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Institute of Electrical Engineers. The Electrical and Computer Engineering Alumni Association at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign chose him to receive its Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1981.

Current as of 1986.