Edward Kimbark

Who was Edward Kimbark?

Edward Wilson Kimbark was a noted power engineer and professor of Electrical Engineering at Northwestern University.

Kimbark was born in Chicago, Illinois to Edward Hall and Maude Kimbark. In 1920 Kimbark enrolled at Northwestern University where he earned his B.S. in 1924 and his E.E. in 1925. After graduation, he worked for two years as a substation operator and testing lab assistant for the Public Service Company of Northern Illinois at Evanston, and for two years as an instructor at the University of California, Berkeley.

He became the Assistant Curator for the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Division of Power, in 1929. After four years at this job, Kimbark decided to return to his studies. He enrolled at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receiving an S.M. in 1933 and a Sc.D. in 1937. While at MIT Kimbark began writing articles and books, which he would continue to do throughout his life.

Kimbark began teaching soon after receiving his Sc.D., beginning at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. In 1939 he returned to Northwestern to teach. Here he eventually became the acting department chair, edited and taught from a textbook titled "Principles of Radar" at MIT's Radar School.