Rudolph Kalman (LF), age 86, passed away on July 2nd. Dr. Kalman was the primary developer of the Kalman filter which has facilitated facilitated many of our modern conveniences, including long-distance flight, space exploration, and military defense systems. Indeed, Dr. Kalman was the father and founder of the modern engineering disciplines of automatic control and system theory.

Kalman received his bachelors and masters degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his doctorate from Columbia University. He served as a faculty member at Harvard University, the University of California – Berkeley, Stanford University, the University of Florida, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). His honors include the US National Medal of Science (awarded by US President Barack Obama); the Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering (awarded by the US National Academy of Engineering); the Leroy P. Steele Prize (award of the American Mathematical Society); the Japan Prize (an equivalent for engineers and mathematicians of the Nobel Prize); and the IEEE Medal of Honor (the highest award of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).

Dr. Kalman is survived his wife of 50 years, two adult children, and eight grandchildren.

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