Abstract :
Joseph Slepian (A´17, F´27) consulting research engineer, Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., and his co-author L.R. LUDWIG (A´28) have been awarded the 1933 A.I.E.E. national prize for best paper in theory and research for their contribution “A New Method for Initiating the Cathode of an Arc.” Doctor Slepian was bora at Boston in 1891, and received the degrees of A.B., A.M., and Ph.D. from Harvard, the last in 1913. After a year of study in Germany and Paris he was an instructor in mathematics at Cornell University until he entered the student course of the Westinghouse company in 1916. He joined the research department in 1917, shortly thereafter being given charge of the development of electrolytic condensers. In 1921 he devised the autovalve lightning arrester, and as a result of his researches on arcs helater produced the deion circuit breaker. Doctor Slepian holds numerous patents and has written many Institute papers. He is at the present time serving on 3 Institute committees, being chairman of the electrophysics committee.