Donald G. Fink

Donald Glen Fink (November 8, 1911 – May 3, 1996) was an American electrical engineer, a pioneer in the development of radio navigation systems and television standards, vice president for research of Philco, president of the Institute of Radio Engineers, General Manager of the IEEE, and an editor of many important publications in electrical engineering.

Fink was born on November 8, 1911 in Englewood, New Jersey. As a high school student, he competed in the National Oratorical Contest on the U.S. constitution, winning first place in Bergen County, New Jersey. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology beginning in 1929 and became editor of the undergraduate technical journal there. He graduated in 1933 with a B.Sc. in electrical communications, and spent a year as a research assistant in the MIT departments of geology and electrical engineering. From 1934 to 1941, he worked as an editor for the magazine Electronics. During World War II, he worked at the MIT Radiation Laboratory and traveled overseas installing LORAN sites. After the war, he became editor-in-chief of Electronics (1946–1952). He joined Philco in 1952, and in 1960 became vice president for research there; in 1962, after the merger of Philco and Ford, he became director of the Philco-Ford Scientific Laboratories.

Fink was long associated with the Institute of Radio Engineers and its successor organization, the IEEE. He was editor-in-chief of Proceedings of the IRE (1956–1957), member of the IRE board of directors (1949–1951 and 1956–1960), president of the IRE (beginning 1958), general manager and later executive director of IEEE (1963–1974) and, after retiring in 1974, "Director Emeritus for life". At the IEEE, he played an important role in guiding the institute through its formative years and in expanding the role of the institute from the technical and scientific study of engineering to an expanded view of engineering that also encompassed its professional and societal aspects. In retirement, he continued to edit two major handbooks published by McGraw-Hill, the Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers and the Electronics Engineers' Handbook. He chaired the United Nations Economic and Social Council science programs from 1976 to 1981.

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