James R. Wait

Biography

James R. Wait was born on January 23, 1924 in Ottowa, Canada. He received all of his post-secondary and graduate education at the University of Toronto, where he earned his bachelor's (1948) and master's (1949) degrees in engineering physics, and his PhD (1951) in electrical engineering. Wait worked for Newmont Exploration in Jerome, Arizona between 1948 and 1951, where his work led to numerous patents within the field of geophysical prospecting. He worked briefly with the Defense Research Communications in Ottowa before joining the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado. Wait then worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Throughout his career as a researcher and teacher, Wait focused mostly on radio-wave propogation theory. In 1980, Wait became a professor of electrical engineering and geosciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and in 1988, was appointed as a prestigious Regents' Professor. He won the IEEE Heinrich Hertz Medal in 1992. Wait died in Tucson on October 1, 1998.