Inducted
10/20/1989
Degrees
M.S. Electrical Engineering, 1948
Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, University of Illinois, 1962
Robert E. Swartwout began his college education in night school at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago in 1939. In 1942, he enlisted in the Army Signal Corps, attended Officer Candidate School, spent time in the Philippine Islands and Japan, and was released from active duty as a First Lieutenant in 1946. In 1948, he received his MSEE degree as an Industrial Research Fellow and was employed by Farnsworth Television & Radio Corporation in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
In 1958 he began work toward his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the University of Illinois. Upon completion in 1962, Dr. Swartwout joined the West Virginia University EE faculty. He introduced the department's first computer hardware and computer systems courses.
He is a charter member of the Multiple-Valued Logic Technical Committee of the IEEE Computer Society and served three years as Chairman of its Steering Committee. He has received special recognition from the IEEE Computer Society for his contributions to the MVL group and to its symposium on two separate occasions.
Mr. Swartwout is a Professor Emeritus and was inducted as part of the Inaugural Academy on October 20, 1989.