 | W. Jack Cunningham |
W. Jack Cunningham, professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering, died at his home in Hamden on Jan. 7, after an illness of several months. He was 86 years old.
A specialist in the areas of systems theory, nonlinear analysis, computation and acoustics, Professor Cunningham taught at Yale from 1946 to 1988. He authored numerous papers and a textbook, "Introduction to Nonlinear Analysis," which was used worldwide and translated into several languages. He was particularly devoted to the teaching of engineering and science, and was considered by many as Yale Engineering's "institutional memory." Upon retiring, he wrote a history "Engineering at Yale -- 1932-1982," published in 1992.
W. Jack Cunningham was born on Aug. 21, 1917, in Comanche, Texas. He received A.B. and A.M. degrees from the University of Texas and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard. During World War II, he helped train military officers in radar theory.
The start of his career coincided with the great changes and advances in electronics and technology of the World War II era, such as radar, sonar and the atomic bomb. His teaching career encompassed the resulting major change in engineering education from an emphasis on practical construction, measurement and industrial administration to a growing emphasis on research and technical applications of electronics, atomic physics and automatic control.
Professor Cunningham worked primarily on the mathematical analysis of engineering and taught generations of students about ordinary, partial differential and nonlinear differential equations.
"He preserved the connection between theory and reality which is the essence of engineering," says Peter Schultheiss, emeritus professor of electrical engineering, who began his career at Yale in the same month as Professor Cunningham. "He was famous among students as an outstanding teacher. Even when his lectures dealt with abstract-sounding topics in differential equations he prepared demonstrations illustrating the results."
Professor Cunningham chaired the Department of Electrical Engineering from 1961 to 1963, when the School of Engineering was abolished and the departments combined into one Department of Engineering and Applied Science (EAS). He subsequently was named associate chair of EAS. He served on many university boards and committees including science advisory board, undergraduate admissions committee, graduate school degree committee in the sciences and the health advisory board. He facilitated the later transition of the EAS into separate Departments of Chemical, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering.
"He had the longest-standing and most intimate knowledge of the speckled history of engineering at this University of anyone I have ever met," says Paul Fleury, dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Frederick W. Beineke Professor of Engineering and Applied Physics. "His service and deep commitment to Yale Engineering covered more than four decades, during which he was an inspiring teacher, a pioneering researcher and scholar, a true statesman and an effective spokesman for his colleagues and programs here. His 'History of Yale Engineering' epitomized his professional, thorough and understated approach to all things. As a result he was one of the most highly respected and revered members of our faculty in all of its long history. It could truly be said of Jack Cunningham that he was a 'class act' -- except that there was nothing of an act about Jack. He was the real thing. He will be long and sorely missed."
Professor Cunningham was a member of the Connecticut Commission on Higher Education and judge of Connecticut high school science fairs. He was a member or chair of the editorial boards of the Journal of the Franklin Institute, American Scientist and Sigma Xi publications. His professional affiliations included membership in the Acoustical Society of America, the American Society for Engineering Education and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Later in life, as a volunteer, he gave talks to young people at the Eli Whitney Museum. Professor Cunningham was a trustee of the Church of the Redeemer in New Haven. After moving to Whitney Center in 1993, he served as an officer on the Residents' Council for eight years and as president from 1995 through 1997.
His last gift to the Yale community was creating a self-guided tour of the renowned scientists and engineers who are buried in the Grove Street Cemetery. Although illness prevented him from taping the tours, the scripts he prepared are online at www.grovestreetcemetery.org/self_guided_grove_street_cemetery_tours.htm.
He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Barbara Cunningham, and his sons Lawrence of New Haven and John of New York City.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Remembrance Fund of Whitney Center, 200 Leeder Hill Dr., Hamden, CT 06517 or to the Church of the Redeemer, 185 Cold Spring St., New Haven, CT 06511. For further information, contact Patricia Kakalow at (203) 432-2212.
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