Kraus, John D.
As producer of some of the first maps of the radio sky and as co-discoverer of the most distant known objects in the universe, John D. Kraus is an explorer of the cosmos. As inventor of antennas and builder of radio telescopes he is a radio engineer, while as author of textbooks which span four decades he is an educator.
Kraus was born in Ann Arbor, MI in 1910, and earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. (Physics, 1933) from the University of Michigan. Fascinated with radio as a boy, he has been involved with Hertzian waves ever since, first as an amateur and then as a professional. Before World War II he developed antennas including the corner reflector and W8JK close-spaced array. He also helped construct and operate the University of Michigan 100-ton cyclotron, then the world's most powerful particle accelerator.
During World War II, Kraus did degaussing (protecting ships from magnetic mines) at the U.S. Naval Ordnance Laboratory and later developed antennas at the Radio Research Laboratory, Harvard University. In 1946 he joined the faculty of the Ohio State University, where he is now McDougal Professor (Emeritus) of Electrical Engineering and Astronomy and Director of the Radio Observatory.
Soon after coming to Ohio State, Kraus invented the helical antenna which is now the workhorse of space communication. His corner-reflector invention is used by millions for TV reception, while his unique radio telescope design has been utilized in several European radio telescopes. In addition to his textbooks (Radio Astronomy 2nd edition, 1986, Antennas 2nd edition, 1988, and Electromagnetics 4th edition, 1990), he has written two popular books: Big Ear (1976) and Our Cosmic Universe (1980). Both independently and with students, he has authored hundreds of research papers.
Kraus joined the IRE (now IEEE) in 1932, was Chairman of its Detroit Section and later for 15 years a member of the Editorial Board of the IRE Proceedings. He became a Fellow of the IEEE in 1954 and member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1972. In the 1950's he served on President Eisenhower's Science Advisory Committee and also the committee which established the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. His many awards include the Sullivant Medal from the Ohio State University (1970), the Outstanding Achievement Award of the University of Michigan (1981) and the Centennial Medal (1984), and IEEE Edison Medal in 1985 "For a sustained career as an innovator, discoverer, and educator in the fields of antennas and radio astronomy."
Living rurally for many years, he and his wife Alice have developed a keen environmental awareness. They have two sons, Jack and Nelson, and five grandchildren.
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