Lob, Chester

2000 Distinguished Alumni Award

In recognition of outstanding technical and management contributions to the development of microwave tubes and microwave amplifiers.

Upon receiving his PhD in 1951, Chester Lob went to work for General Electric. He pioneered in the development of color television tubes and eventually became head of microwave tube operations. In this position, he led the development of new microwave tubes that made GE a major player in the field. When Varian purchased General Electric’s microwave business in Palo Alto, Lob continued as its general manager. He later moved east to head Varian SFD Laboratories, where he led a group that developed a new class of microwave amplifiers, termed crossed-field amplifiers, that are now standard in the Navy’s AEGIS cruisers and destroyers. He later headed Varian’s night vision activity and then accepted the Technical Director position for all of Varian’s electron device divisions. In 1995, Lob joined Communications and Power Industries in Palo Alto, California. He recently retired from this company but still works with it as a consultant.

Lob served on the Advisory Group on Electron Devices for the Department of Defense and as president of the Microwave Tube Division of the Electronics Industry Association (EIA).