Ronald F. Soohoo

Dr. Ronald Franklin Soohoo was born in Guangdong, China and was the son of a successful banker and businessman. He immigrated to the United States when he was 12 years old and settled in San Francisco knowing little if any English but quickly taught himself to be fluent. Dr. Soohoo excelled in his studies and earned a full scholarship to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) at age 16. He graduated with an S.B. in Electrical Engineering in a little over two years while also achieving the grade of 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army Reserve as part of the ROTC program. Dr. Soohoo was a member of the Rho Psi Fraternity and was an active member throughout his life.

Upon graduation Dr. Soohoo joined the technical staff of Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) as an engineer where he designed portions of Northern California’s power grid and contributed greatly to the understanding and advancement of the design of power transmission systems. He pursued graduate studies at Stanford University on a fellowship while simultaneously being promoted to the grade of Captain in the US Army Corps of Engineers during his studies. Dr. Soohoo completed his PhD in Electrical Engineering and Physics with a dissertation on the application of ferrite materials which later lead to key discoveries that advanced both the fields of microwave electronics/communications and magnetic recording. Upon graduating from Stanford, Dr. Soohoo was appointed Director of Research Analysis at Cascade Research in Los Gatos, CA and managed a team of multi-disciplinary scientists and technologists who created breakthrough products. Dr. Soohoo then returned to his alma mater and joined the team at Lincoln Laboratory of M.I.T. working on research topics funded by the US Air Force advancing the fundamental understanding of magnetic materials.

In 1961, Dr. Soohoo entered the next phase of his career when he was appointed as Associate Professor of Engineering and Applied Science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) where he continued his research and taught both Electrical Engineering and Physics. In 1964, he was heavily recruited to join the nascent Electrical Engineering Department at the University of California at Davis. He became the Founding Chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1965 with the enthusiastic support of his department colleagues after it was spun out from UC Berkeley. Notably, he also became the first department chairman of Asian descent in the 100-year history of the University of California. In the intervening years he and his colleagues built one of the leading electrical engineering programs in the nation. He was passionate about teaching and inspiring future generations through education. Many of his students are now leaders in industry and academia.

Dr. Soohoo was a prolific author and published four widely referenced technical books which were translated into multiple languages along with his memoir. He also published over 60 juried technical papers and held multiple US patents. Dr. Soohoo was a visiting scholar at various universities worldwide during his 60-year career and a consultant to leading US high-tech companies. He also started his own company, Soohoo Associates, a high-tech equipment manufacturer after his retirement from the University of California in 1991.

Throughout his life Dr. Soohoo was honored with many distinguished awards, including a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the National Academy of Sciences, Who’s Who in America, a NATO Fellowship to the National Research Labs in France, a National Science Foundation Research Fellow at IBM, an Outstanding Educator of America, and named a Top Innovator by Science Digest Magazine.

He was an avid reader and enjoyed debating world affairs in multiple languages, practicing Tai-Chi daily, and traveling the world with his family and friends.