Utah born Simon Ramo received a Ph.D. degree magna cum laude from the California Institute of Technology. A pioneer in electronics research and development, he was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Carter. Ramo has been a leader in developing technology for national defense, becoming the chief scientist and technical director of the U.S.’s largest defense program, the ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile). He received the U.S.’s highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, from President Reagan. Ramo has been a founder and principal executive of several successful hi-tech corporations, including TRW Inc (Thompson Ramo Wooldridge). As one of the nation s most successful hi-tech entrepreneurs, businesses he founded or co-founded were acquired later by General Electric, General Motors, Boeing, Honeywell, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman. He was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame and received the Lifetime Achievement award of the Smithsonian Institution. Ramo’s texts in science, engineering, and management have been translated into numerous foreign languages and are utilized in universities throughout the world. Ramo’s text on electromagnetic fields and waves, a basic subject for students in physics and electrical engineering, became the standard text in universities everywhere. Published in eight languages including Russian and Japanese, it has sold over one million copies. His Extraordinary Tennis for the Ordinary Player holds the sales record for books on tennis. A year before the Soviet Union s launching of SPUT-NIK, Ramo founded Space Technology Laboratories Corporation, which became the first corporation to win a U.S. spacecraft contract. It produced the first spacecraft to visit the outer planets and the first to go beyond the Solar System into outer space. An accomplished violinist, he played duets with Jascha Heifetz.