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December 10, 1998

Howard Britton Hamilton

Howard Britton Hamilton, professor emeritus of electrical engineering, died Nov. 28, 1998, at UPMC St. Margaret of complications following surgery. He was 72.

Hamilton joined Pitt in 1966 as chairperson of the electrical engineering department. He held that job until 1973, then served as a professor of engineering until retiring in 1986. Hamilton was acting chairperson of the department during the year before his retirement.

During World War II, he flew 22 missions as a B-17 bombardier before his plane was shot down. Seriously injured, Hamilton was captured by the Germans and spent more than a year in captivity, first in a hospital and then in a prisoner of war camp that the Russians liberated in May 1945.

Hamilton then went to college on the GI Bill, earning his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 1949. He received a master's degree from the University of Minnesota in 1955 and a doctorate from Oklahoma State in 1962, also in electrical engineering.

He worked for General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y., and Boeing Aircraft Co. in Wichita, Kan., before entering academia as professor and chairperson of the University of Wichita's electrical engineering department.

Hamilton is survived by his wife, Geraldine Karr Hamilton; sons Stephen of Hickory, N.C., John V. of Bethel Park and Christopher H. of Germantown, Md.; daughter Jane Hamilton Gruber of Augusta, Ga.; brothers Clinton of Manhattan, Kan., Robert of Alamo, Calif., and John of Topeka, Kan.; and sister Dolores Hamilton McIntosh of Buffalo, Kan.

The family suggests donations to the Howard B. Hamilton Scholarship Fund in Pitt's electrical engineering department, 240 Benedum Hall, Pittsburgh 15261.

Filed under: Feature,Volume 31 Issue 8

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