Michael I. Pupin, 1858 - 1935

Michael ldvarsky Pupin was born on 4 October 1858 in the village of ldvor, Banat, now part of Yugoslavia. After attending the local school in ldvor, his education progressed in Panchevo and then Prague. Unhappy in Prague, he emigrated to New York in 1874. Making use of the resources of the Cooper Union in his spare time, he qualified for entrance to Columbia College in 1879 and was graduated with honors in 1883. He became a U.S. citizen the day before graduation. Pupin then spent two years at Cambridge University and continued his education in 1885 at the University of Berlin, studying and conducting research in experimental physics under Hermann Von Helmholtz. He obtained his Ph.D. in Berlin in 1889.

Pupin returned to New York that year to assume the position of teacher of mathematical physics at Columbia; he and Francis Bacon Crocker comprised the faculty of the newly-created department of electrical engineering there. Though the department could make no claims to having the most modern or even sufficient equipment - the laboratory building was known as "the cowshed" - Pupin completed some of his most important work during these early years at Columbia. In 1894, he studied wave propagation in a vibrating string, noting that these waves did not dissipate as rapidly in a string which had weights suspended from it at equal intervals as in an un-weighted string. He applied this finding to long distance telephony, ascertaining the correct spacing of inductance ("loading") coils along telephone lines to remove the barrier of distance from telephone communication. In 1896, he developed a method of rapid x-ray photography, requiring an exposure of only a fraction of a second, rather than that of an hour or more, by placing a fluorescent substance between the photographic plate and the object to be photographed.

He remained with Columbia for life, progressing through the ranks to instructor in 1890, adjunct professor in 1892, professor in 1901 and professor emeritus in 1931. During his long career, he numbered Gano Dunn, Robert Millikan, Edwin Armstrong and Irving Langmuir among his students.

Pupin was president of the Institute of Radio Engineers in 1917 and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1925-1926. The AIEE honored him with its Edison Medal in 1920 "For his work in mathematical physics and its application to the electric transmission of intelligence," and he received the IRE Medal of Honor in 1924 "In recognition of his fundamental contributions in the field of electrical tuning and the rectification of alternating currents used for signalling purposes."' In 1915, he was made a Fellow of both organizations.

Michael Pupin's autobiography, From Immigrant to Inventor, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1924. He died in New York City on 12 March 1935.