In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus T. C. Gordon Wagner

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Gordon Wagner

It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of one of our former colleagues, Emeritus Professor T.C. Gordon Wagner. Gordon passed away on Dec 13th at his home in Rockville, Maryland. His obituary from yesterday's Washington Post is reproduced below.

- Dr. Patrick O'Shea, Chair

From the Washington Post, December 27, 2005:

T.C. Gordon Wagner, Engineering Professor

T.C. Gordon Wagner, 89, an emeritus professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Maryland, died of pulmonary fibrosis Dec. 13 at his home in Rockville.

Dr. Wagner was born in Pittsburgh and was raised in New York City. He graduated from Harvard University in 1937 and received a master's degree in 1940 and a doctorate in 1943, both in mathematics, from the University of Maryland. He remained on the school's electrical engineering faculty until 1976.

He was the co-author of "Electronic Communications Experiments" (1952) and the author of "Analytical Transients" (1959). He was named an emeritus professor in 1992.

He also consulted for Davies Laboratory Inc., the Washington Institute of Technology and IDEAS Inc. and in 1974 founded the consulting firm TCG Inc.

In the 1950s, he was an active member of the Capital Dog Training Club and traveled the East Coast showing his beloved Shetland sheepdog, Petey. He moved to Rockville in 1954 and became a member of the Rockville Chess Club.

He purchased his first Porsche in 1959 and joined the Porsche Club of America and the Sports Car Club of America. He and his wife often attended sports car road rallies and won many awards for their driving. They were nationally ranked expert rallyists and were featured in a Washington Post article in 1996. Dr. Wagner continued rallying until 2002.

Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Rita M. Wagner of Rockville; three children, Ann W. Brandon of Chicago Heights, Ill., James J. Wagner of Washington and Daniel G. Wagner of Potomac; nine grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Published December 28, 2005