Born | Essex, England | 22 July 1919
---|---|
Died | 13 August 2007 | (aged 88)
Occupation | Latterly Professor Emeritus at University of Colorado Boulder. |
Known for | Academic work and patents in electrical and computer engineering. |
Spouse | Daphne Smith |
Children | David Ian Lewin, Wendy Patricia Lewin |
Leonard Lewin (22 July 1919 – 13 August 2007) was a British telecommunications engineer and educator. Later emigrating to the United States, Lewin became Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder.[1][2][3] He was the author and holder of 40 patents and wrote, co-wrote, or edited nearly 200 technical publications.[1][2][3]
Lewin was born on 22 July 1919 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. Educated at Southend High School for Boys, and studying "mathematics with particular reference to transcendental functions and the electromagnetic theory of radiation,"[5] he first found employment in 1937 with the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company.[1][2][3] In 1941 he became a radio instructor and from then until the end of World War II he served with the Admiralty Signal Establishment (ASE) as a Temporary Experimental Officer, researching radar, radio antenna and mirror design,[1][2][3][5] and in 1945 he served as chairman of the Inter-Service Committee on Radar Camouflage.[5]
After the war, in 1946, Lewin worked for Standard Telecommunication Laboratories at Enfield, North London as a senior engineer and in 1950 he was appointed head of the Microwave Engineering department.[1][2][3]
In 1968, Lewin emigrated to the United States and embarked on an academic career. Joining the University of Colorado, he took up the post of Professor of Electrical Engineering, being made a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE),[6] and ultimately becoming Director of the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program, run by the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.[1][2][3] He was also a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society.[2]
During his career, Leonard Lewin authored and was granted 40 patents.[1][2][3]
In 1962, Lewin was awarded the Microwave Prize by the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society.[1][7]
In 1967, The University of Colorado awarded Lewin an Honorary Doctorate of Science (D.Sc.).[1][2][3]
In 1981, Lewin became a Fulbright scholar, and he lectured in Austria, Turkey and Yugoslavia.[1][2][3]
In 1981 and 1990, Lewin lectured at the École nationale supérieure des télécommunications in Paris, France.[2][3]
In 1987 Lewin gave the IEEE (New Zealand) National Prestige lecture on the topic of education.[2]
In 1990, Lewin lectured at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.[2][3] He was also invited to speak at the 1990 International Congress of Mathematicians in Kyoto, Japan.[4]
In 1991, Lewin lectured at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn, Germany.[2][3]
In 1993, after his retirement, Lewin received the Microwave Career Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Microwave Theory and Techniques Society.[1][2][3][6]
Lewin also wrote, co-wrote, or edited nearly 200 technical publications, including more than 10 research books on waveguides, mathematics and telecommunications.[1][2][3][8]
Technical publications include:[9]
Sufi-related publications include:
The Diffusion of Sufi Ideas in the West won an award from UNESCO's 1972 International Book Year.[4]
On his retirement from the University of Colorado in 1986, Lewin was made Professor Emeritus and continued to lecture for several years after that time.[1] He died on 13 August 2007 at a hospice in Louisville, Colorado.[2][3]
Interested in education, philosophy and spirituality, Leonard Lewin served on the District Accountability Committee and the Advisory Committee for the Talented and Gifted in the Boulder Valley School District.[2][3] He was also a student of Sufi mysticism and established and led study groups[14] under the guidance of Idries Shah,[15] Shah's brother Omar Ali-Shah and Ali-Shah's son, Arif Ali-Shah.[2][3]