Glen Wade 1921 2009

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We've lost a remarkable man: a researcher in the field of acoustical imaging, and a kind and compassionate human of the highest order.

Glen Wade was born in Ogden, Utah, son of Lester Wade, who served for many years on the state Supreme Court. Glen's activities in Utah included leading a dance band. He joined the Navy at the outbreak of World War II and rose to the rank of Lieutenant. While serving in the Navy, Glen married his sweetheart, LaRee Bailey, whom he had met in Utah. After the war, Glen received Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the University of Utah, and a PhD at Stanford, where he also taught in the late 1950s. Around this time Glen also was employed by the Zenith Radio Corporation and the Raytheon Company. Glen returned to teaching at Cornell University

Glen Wade 1921 2009

Glen holds a number of patents in the electrical engineering field, and did a lot of work on something called the "traveling wave tube," the exact function of which I do not know. I do know that Glen was once transported on Air Force One to Puerto Rico, to the radio telescope at Arecibo, because one of his traveling wave tubes was at the heart of the receiving system.

In 1966, he accepted a position as professor of electrical engineering at UC Santa Barbara. The Wades purchased a lovely George Washington Smith house on an acre of land in Montecito-of which more later. In addition to his teaching, Glen did important and pioneering research in the field of acoustical imaging, becoming very well known in the field.

I met Glen Wade in July 1987. My good friend Edward Loomis, an English professor at UCSB, arranged for me to meet him at one of the bi-weekly research meetings in Glen's huge office on the top floor of Engineering I on the UCSB campus. I arrived shortly before the meeting was due to start, and for the first time heard his booming "Hello." Wade had many Asian students, as well as a few from other non-English speaking countries, who needed some help refining the English in the research papers on which they were all working. I was hired to assist them with the language in their work. It was fascinating.

Almost exactly two years after I started, the grant money with which I was being paid ran out. By this time, I had become so interested in what was going on that I stayed on despite the fact that no longer was I being paid. The meetings continued even after Wade's retirement in 1991. As the years went by, the group dwindled in size until finally, by around 2002, only three of us remained: Dr. Wade, a man named Steve Isakson, and myself. Steve was the last student to be working on a technical paper under the guidance of Wade. After Steve received his PhD, he returned to his home in Atascadero, leaving just Dr. Wade and myself. We then began meeting in his study at his home.

Over the years, the topics of our discussions had changed gradually from those pertaining solely to science and technology to broader concerns: We talked about world affairs, and we also talked about religion. Wade had been a life-long Mormon. He loved the church and fully lived up to its ideals and practices, however he had some problems believing in the mysticism-and I will go no further on this particular subject. We met in Wade's second floor study every Saturday morning at 11 a.m., up until about two weeks before his death. It became a ritual at these meetings, as the final item on the agenda, for Dr. Wade to call Steve at his home in Atascadero to enquire as to his progress on his paper, which was a transcription of a talk Steve had given at a technical conference in Cancun, Mexico. The dialogue went something like this:

Steve: Good morning.

Wade: What a pleasure to talk with you this morning, Steve.

Steve: And a pleasure to talk with you.

Wade: Now Steve, have you had a chance to finish your paper?

Steve: (long silence) Well : no.

Wade: Gosh darn it.

Steve: But I did work on it some.

Wade: (clapping his hands loudly) Very good, Steve. Now, do you think you'll be able to finish it next week?

Steve: Gosh, I don't know."

And so forth, week after week, month after month. Year after year.

From time to time we would walk about on his property. The land around the house is amazing: To begin, there is an immense Moreton Bay Fig tree spreading its enormous, thick branches over what might be close to half the entire property. It is wild, it is a jungle, and Glen Wade loved it dearly. It isn't mowed lawns and tastefully trimmed shrubbery; it is untamed and beautiful. Wade and LaRee shared this remarkable setting with many students and colleagues from all over the world. At one point, he told me that he had had more than 60 people living in his house.

Wade committed many acts of generosity. When he would learn of someone in distress, he would more often than not help out, often anonymously, with no need for thanks. Wade became deeply involved with the Puerto Vallarta Sister Cities Program, making a number of trips to Mexico and also hosting many return visitors who came here from Puerto Vallarta.

It is truly impossible to relate all of the remarkable activities and kindnesses emanating from this outstanding individual. He was a great man; a true humanitarian. I have lost a friend, and will for some time be at a loss about what to do on Saturday mornings.

i thank You God for most this amazing

day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything

which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(I who have died am alive again today

and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth

day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay

great happening illimitably earth)

-e. e. cummings

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