Paul Green (engineer)

Paul E. Green Jr.
Born	(1924-01-14) January 14, 1924 Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	March 22, 2018(2018-03-22) (aged 94) Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.
Occupation	Electrical engineer
Known for	Spread spectrum technology, radar systems, Rake receiver, range-Doppler mapping
Notable work	Fiber Optic Networks (1992), Fiber to the Home: The New Empowerment (2005), CommuniCrostics (2008)

Paul Eliot Green, Jr. (January 14, 1924 – March 22, 2018) was a distinguished American electrical engineer known for his expertise in spread spectrum and radar systems. He was the son of the noted playwright Paul Green.

Biography

Green was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and pursued a degree in physics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He participated in the Naval ROTC and served in the Navy Reserve, ultimately retiring with the rank of lieutenant commander. In 1948, he obtained a master's degree in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University, concentrating on cryptographic studies. He earned his doctorate from M.I.T. in 1953, presenting a dissertation on spread spectrum technology. Alongside Robert Price, he co-developed the Rake receiver and managed its implementation within the Lincoln F9C project.

During his tenure at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Green and Price conducted pioneering experiments attempting to reflect radar signals off Venus in 1958. Working with Gordon Pettengill, he formulated range-Doppler mapping techniques that were later utilized by the Magellan probe to chart Venus’s surface. Additionally, he engineered the LASA (Large Aperture Seismic Array) system aimed at earthquake forecasting, which was installed in Montana and Norway (NORSAR) starting in 1963.

In 1969, Green took charge of IBM Research’s communications division, playing a significant role in developing the Systems Network Architecture and the Advanced peer-to-peer networking protocol. Beginning in 1988, he led research efforts into optical communications with an emphasis on wavelength division multiplexing. Later, from 1997 to 2000, he worked at Tellabs. Following his retirement, Green became an advocate for expanding public broadband accessibility. He passed away in Chapel Hill on March 22, 2018.

Publications

Green authored influential works within his field, notably Fiber Optic Networks (1992) and Fiber to the Home: The New Empowerment (2005). Starting in 1981, he contributed approximately 300 CommuniCrostics crossword puzzles to IEEE Communications Magazine; these were later collected into a volume published in 2008.

• Fiber Optic Networks, 1992
• Fiber to the Home: The New Empowerment, 2005
• CommuniCrostics, 2008

Honors

• Named Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1962
• Recipient of the Aerospace Pioneer Award in 1980
• Inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 1982
• Awarded the Simon Ramo Medal in 1991
• Served as President of the IEEE Communications Society during 1992–93
• Honored with the SIGCOMM Award in 1994

External links

• Oral history interview: Paul Green (1999)
• Paul E. Green Jr. on Engineering and Technology Wiki