George Abraham was born on July 5th, 1918 in New York City to Herbert Abraham and Dorothy Abraham. Abraham enrolled in Brown University where in 1936 he founded the college’s radio station with David W. Borst, one of the first carrier current stations. He received degrees in electrical engineering and physics from Brown in 1940, and earned his MS at Harvard in 1942. At Harvard he was director of the Harvard Series Stations WRUL and WRUW Worldwide Broadcasting Foundation, In 1941, he joined RCA in Camden, NJ, and moved to Washington, DC in 1942. He earned his Ph. D. in Physics from the University of Maryland; and completed additional graduate study at M.I.T. and George Washington University.
His early work as radio engineer and electronic scientist was in the fields of communications, radar, and electron devices at RCA and the Naval Research Laboratory. Later, as research physicist at NRL, he served as Head, Experimental Devices and Microelectronics Sections, and Consultant, Electronics Division. Subsequent assignments were as Head, Systems Applications, and Currently, Office of Research and Technology Applications, Office of the Director.
In addition, he has been industrial consultant in the fields of solid state electronics and integrated circuit applications. He founded and was elected President and Chairman of the Board, Intercollegiate Broadcasting System and Director, Harvard Series for the Worldwide Broadcasting Foundation in Boston. He served on active duty as engineering duty officer in the Navy during WWII rising to Captain, USNR and Commanding Officer of the ONR Headquarters unit in Washington.
In Washington, Abraham worked at the Naval Research Laboratory, Transmitters section of the Radio Division, the Experimental Devices and Microelectronics Sections, and later as a physicist and head of Systems Applications in the Office of the Director of Research. At the NRL his work led to the establishment of the NRL’s Science Education Program. He was elected president-elect of the Washington Academy of Sciences, assuming office May 16th, 1974, and the duties of president in 1975.
Abraham was a founder, past-president, chairman, and director, of the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System. Inc., a nonprofit association of more than 1000 college and university radio stations.
Abraham was faculty of UMD and George Washington University and was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received the the Harry Diamond Award, the NRL Edison Award and the Navy’s Desert Storm Science and Engineering Award. He is recipient of the IEEE Distinguished Service Award and the USAB Citation of Honor; Group Achievement Award, Fleet Ballistic Missile Program, U.S. Navy; and Navy Research Publication Award. He is also a member of Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu, Sigma Pi Sigma, Sigma Tau, Iota Beta Sigma, a number of professional societies and the Cosmos Club . He was a registered professional engineer and electrical engineering member of the D.C. Board of Registration for Professional Engineers.
He became an associate member of AIEE in 1941, a Member in 1959, and a Fellow of IEEE in 1964 for “research on solid-state phenomena and for contributions to graduate engineering education.”. Dr. Abraham’s IEEE service includes Chairman, Washington Section; Director, Eastern Region; Board of Directors; Regional Activities Board; Technical Activities Board; Educational Activities Board; Publications Board; U.S. Activities Board; Fellow Committee, IEEE Press Board, and a number of technical committees. He has also served as President of the Washington Academy of Sciences and Washington Society of Engineers; Chairman, Government Microcircuit Applications Conference, IEEE Conference on Technology Forecasting and Assessment, and Washington Energy Symposium. He was affiliated with several IEEE boards including Electron Devices, Integrated Electronics Technical Committee, EASCON, Comm. Systems, and Aerospace and Electronic Systems . Abraham also authored 50 technical papers, many book chapters and was president of the Washington Academy of Sciences and the Washington Society of Engineers.
Abraham died on August 28th, 1995 in Popham Beach, ME. He and his wife, Hilda, had four children-Edward, Dorothy, Ann and Alice . His leisure interests included sailing, skiing, mountaineering, scuba diving, music and travel.
