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Jesse R. Lien ’41

Jesse Rudolph Lien ’41, October 28, 2006, in Portland, from congestive heart failure. Jesse received a BA from Reed in physics, and, that same year, married Wilma Richard. He entered a PhD program at MIT, and left the program at the onset of World War II to be a staff member of the institute's radiation laboratory, where he developed a remote guidance system for B-17s. His wrote for MIT Radiation Laboratory publications and for various technical journals, and was issued a number of patents. After the war, he was assistant director of the Upper Atmosphere Research Laboratory at the Air Force Cambridge Research Center, and was the test and launch director for the V-2 rocket and the Aerobee probe research at the center; he was also a consultant on rocket telemetry data and satellite transmission capabilities for the U.S. government. In 1953, he received an MA from Boston University in physics. He also completed the senior executive program at the Sloan School of Management at MIT in 1967. Jesse worked for GTE (Verizon), and was president of GTE Laboratories and vice president of GTE Engineering; he retired in 1982. He was a fellow and member of numerous professional and academic associations and societies, and served on government advisory groups, including for the National Security Agency. Survivors include his wife, two sons, and five grandchildren. His brother, R. Harold Lien ’36, also graduated from Reed.

Appeared in Reed magazine: February 2007