The Magazine of IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu October 2017 - 38

NEWS AND UPDATES

Tribute to Tom Rothwell: Mr. Eta Kappa Nu
Tom Rothwell, beloved member and a leader of Eta
Kappa Nu passed away on July 14 2017. Tom was a
dedicated volunteer and member since his induction at
the University of Southern California, Upsilon Chapter in
1953, he served as Treasurer, Secretary, Vice President,
and President of the Upsilon Chapter and the L.A.
Alumni Chapter, and nationally as Director (1962),
Vice President (2001-2002), President (2002-2003),
and Past President (2003-2004). Tom served in every
elected capacity that IEEE/HKN offers. Tom served as
Chair of two national IEEE/HKN committees and as the
Past Chair of The Outstanding Electrical and Computer
Engineering Student of the Year Award. Tom was
presented with the HKN Distinguished Service Award in
1999.

systems for the Minuteman and Titan Intercontinental
Ballistic Systems. He retired from Hughes in December
1992.
Tom served his community and was appointed
to the City of Los Alamitos, California Personnel
Appeals Commission (1984), and served until 2004-the last six years as Chairman. In 1990, he was
named the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service
(RACES) Assistant Radio Officer for Los Alamitos.
This RACES organization is nationwide and provides
communications in support of municipalities and
communities during emergencies. Tom was the Los
Alamitos Citizen of the Year in 2005.

Tom's life-long passion of amateur radio ultimately
resulted in Tom becoming an Electrical Engineer.

 John DeGraw, Tom Rothwell, and Eric Herz

 S.K Ramesh, 2016 HKN President, presents a special plaque to

Tom Rothwell in recognition of his contributions

Tom was veteran of both World War II and the Korean
War, when he returned home from active duty he earned
a Bachelor of Engineering degree with honors from the
University of Southern California (USC), and a Master of
Science in Electrical Engineering.
He joined the Hughes Aircraft Company his work
included the design and implementation of computercontrolled test systems for the inertial guidance

Tom's dedication, concern, and contributions have
played a significant role to distinguish Eta Kappa Nu
as the premier Honor Society for our profession, and
as a result, the Society continues its important role of
promoting and recognizing excellence in electrical and
computer engineering, from the college level through
the professional level.
The IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu Board of Governors has
recognized Tom for a lifetime of service and dedication
to IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu.
Tom is survived by his daughter Laura and her husband
Larry Fisher.

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THE BRIDGE

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Magazine of IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu October 2017