Background
Kimbark was born in Chicago, Illinois to Edward Hall and Maude (Wilson) Kimbark.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Edward Kimbark
Edit Profileengineer professor of Electrical Engineering
Education
He enrolled at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receiving an South.M. in 1933 and a Doctor of Science. in 1937.
Career
In 1920 Kimbark enrolled at Northwestern University where he earned his Bachelor of Surgery in 1924 and his Electrical Engineer in 1925. After graduation, he worked for two years as a substation operator and testing lab assistant for the Public Service Company of Northern Illinois at Evanston, and for two years as an instructor at the University of California, Berkeley. He became the Assistant Curator for the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Division of Power, in 1929.
After four years at this job, Kimbark decided to return to his studies.
While at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Kimbark began writing articles and books, which he would continue to do throughout his life. Kimbark began teaching soon after receiving his Doctor of Science., beginning at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn.
In 1939 he returned to Northwestern to teach. Here he eventually became the acting department chair, edited and taught from a textbook titled at Massachusetts Institute of Technology"s Radar School.
In 1950 Kimbark moved to Brazil to help initiate an electrical engineering program at the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica São Paulo.
He taught electrical power systems engineering for the next five years, using his own English-language texts but lecturing and administering exams in self-taught Portuguese. (He was also proficient in French, German, and Russian, and was a lifelong proponent of Esperanto) Kimbark returned to the United States in 1955 for a position at Seattle University as the Dean of the School of Engineering. While at Seattle University he also became a consultant for Bonneville Power Administration in Portland, Oregon.
In 1962 Kimbark began working for the BPA full-time as the head of the Network Analog Group.
Kimbark’s first wife Ruth died in 1976. He retired from full-time work at the BPA the same year.
He continued to act as a consultant to the BPA until his death in 1982.
