Analog guru Jim Williams dies after stroke - 2011-06-13 15:26:32 | EDN
A sad day and my sympathies to his family and many friends. Truly - a legend is lost.
A sad day and my sympathies to his family and many friends. Truly - a legend is lost.
That is really a great loss indeed. I had the privilege to attend what must have been his last AES presentation where he gave a brilliant analysis of HP's first product, the '200(A) signal generator.
Jim had the knack to explain complex issues very simply, and I don't know anyone who was so fantastically creative with parts. He was a guy who was at the forefront of technology 30 years ago, and stayed there until this day. A rare talent.
jan didden
Jim had the knack to explain complex issues very simply, and I don't know anyone who was so fantastically creative with parts. He was a guy who was at the forefront of technology 30 years ago, and stayed there until this day. A rare talent.
jan didden
He was suffering from it when he did the AES presentation. I think it was in 2009.
That didn't stop him.
jan didden
Very sad to hear. Years ago I wrote a magazine article using an LTC chip and sent it to Jim for review. I didn't know it at the time, but he had tread most of the same ground long before I did. He graciously marked it up and provided all manner of interesting info. His markup and writing style was a wonderful mix of both words and pictures- he'd substitute a resistor symbol for the word resistor in a sentence and many others. Not sure how it came up, but he also introduced me to the history of the chronometer. He was my analog hero since the first EDN articles and I always looked forward to the next. 
Another article from the trade press: "Jim Williams, analog circuit guru, dies" (EE Times, 6/13/2011)
Dale
One of the folks on the TekScopes group mentioned that he had entered his TEK547 in a Tektronix contest. Here's a video demonstrating use of the 547 to measure temperature:
Contest Videos – MyTektronixScope.com
Contest Videos – MyTektronixScope.com
very sad news.. he was truly inspiring! great guy
FWIW, here is the press release from Linear Technology:
Linear Technology Corporation today remembered the company’s long-time Staff Scientist Jim Williams, who died on June 12. Williams, who worked for Linear Technology for nearly three decades, started as an applications engineer in the early years of the company. His contributions were many-fold. He was a legendary analog circuit designer, problem solver, writer and mentor to many engineers over the years.
Hailing from Detroit in the shadow of a booming postwar US automotive market, Jim developed an early curiosity and interest in all things electronic. He would talk about working at a TV repair shop during his early years, so he could poke around inside to find out how they worked. His passion for electronics took him to Boston, where his intellect and drive helped him find a technician’s job working on the Apollo program. Although self-taught in electronics, Jim taught and did research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1968 to 1979, concentrating exclusively on analog circuit design. During this time, he began his legendary writing career—finding clear, elegant ways to describe complex and seemingly indescribable design challenges and solutions.
Before joining Linear Technology in 1982, Jim worked in National Semiconductor’s Linear Integrated Circuits Group for three years. In nearly 30 years with Linear, Jim had the unique role of staff scientist, with interests spanning product definition, development and support. He was consumed with developing analog circuits, helping set up instruments in the company’s labs, mentoring junior engineers in-house and customers outside, even answering his own phone. Jim maintained a lab at his home and worked there, in a lab at least as well outfitted as the one at work.
In many ways, Jim’s major contribution was in making complex analog circuits understandable to the engineering community. He had the rare ability to develop a complicated circuit for one-time use, and then provide enough background for general use, writing it up so that engineers could easily understand. Over the years, Jim was a highly prolific and accomplished writer, authoring over 350 publications related to analog circuit design, including dozens of Linear Technology application notes and articles for EDN magazine. He edited and contributed his writings to two books on analog design in the 1990s and his forthcoming book, Analog Circuit Design: A Tutorial Guide to Applications and Solutions, edited with Linear Technology’s Bob Dobkin will be published this summer by Elsevier/Newnes Publishing.
Jim Williams was named Innovator of the Year by EDN magazine in 1992 and elected to Electronic Design Hall of Fame in 2002. His outside interests spanned sports cars, collecting antique scientific instruments, art, and restoring (and using) old Tektronix oscilloscopes.
“Next to his wife Siu, Jim lived electronics. Electronics was his art, his hobby and his humor,” stated Bob Dobkin, Linear Technology Vice President, Engineering and Chief Technical Officer. “Jim’s mantra of building your own prototypes and testing them taught tens of thousands of engineers the right way to get a working design off a sheet of paper and into production.”
Bob Swanson, Linear Technology Executive Chairman, stated, “The entire world of analog electronics has lost one of its greatest champions and teachers.”
Lothar Maier, Linear Technology CEO, stated, “Jim is a part of the fabric of Linear Technology, and his presence, contributions and inspiration will be greatly missed. Jim, like the circuits he designed, is timeless and will be forever remembered. His unique gift as an engineer allowed him to invent, teach and communicate complex analog ideas, being an inspiring force to countless engineers.”
Jim is survived by his wife Siu and son Michael. His family requests that donations in Jim’s memory be made to The Parkinson's Institute, 1170 Morse Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94089.
FWIW, here is the press release from Linear Technology:
Linear Technology Corporation today remembered the company’s long-time Staff Scientist Jim Williams, who died on June 12. Williams, who worked for Linear Technology for nearly three decades, started as an applications engineer in the early years of the company. His contributions were many-fold. He was a legendary analog circuit designer, problem solver, writer and mentor to many engineers over the years.
Hailing from Detroit in the shadow of a booming postwar US automotive market, Jim developed an early curiosity and interest in all things electronic. He would talk about working at a TV repair shop during his early years, so he could poke around inside to find out how they worked. His passion for electronics took him to Boston, where his intellect and drive helped him find a technician’s job working on the Apollo program. Although self-taught in electronics, Jim taught and did research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1968 to 1979, concentrating exclusively on analog circuit design. During this time, he began his legendary writing career—finding clear, elegant ways to describe complex and seemingly indescribable design challenges and solutions.
Before joining Linear Technology in 1982, Jim worked in National Semiconductor’s Linear Integrated Circuits Group for three years. In nearly 30 years with Linear, Jim had the unique role of staff scientist, with interests spanning product definition, development and support. He was consumed with developing analog circuits, helping set up instruments in the company’s labs, mentoring junior engineers in-house and customers outside, even answering his own phone. Jim maintained a lab at his home and worked there, in a lab at least as well outfitted as the one at work.
In many ways, Jim’s major contribution was in making complex analog circuits understandable to the engineering community. He had the rare ability to develop a complicated circuit for one-time use, and then provide enough background for general use, writing it up so that engineers could easily understand. Over the years, Jim was a highly prolific and accomplished writer, authoring over 350 publications related to analog circuit design, including dozens of Linear Technology application notes and articles for EDN magazine. He edited and contributed his writings to two books on analog design in the 1990s and his forthcoming book, Analog Circuit Design: A Tutorial Guide to Applications and Solutions, edited with Linear Technology’s Bob Dobkin will be published this summer by Elsevier/Newnes Publishing.
Jim Williams was named Innovator of the Year by EDN magazine in 1992 and elected to Electronic Design Hall of Fame in 2002. His outside interests spanned sports cars, collecting antique scientific instruments, art, and restoring (and using) old Tektronix oscilloscopes.
“Next to his wife Siu, Jim lived electronics. Electronics was his art, his hobby and his humor,” stated Bob Dobkin, Linear Technology Vice President, Engineering and Chief Technical Officer. “Jim’s mantra of building your own prototypes and testing them taught tens of thousands of engineers the right way to get a working design off a sheet of paper and into production.”
Bob Swanson, Linear Technology Executive Chairman, stated, “The entire world of analog electronics has lost one of its greatest champions and teachers.”
Lothar Maier, Linear Technology CEO, stated, “Jim is a part of the fabric of Linear Technology, and his presence, contributions and inspiration will be greatly missed. Jim, like the circuits he designed, is timeless and will be forever remembered. His unique gift as an engineer allowed him to invent, teach and communicate complex analog ideas, being an inspiring force to countless engineers.”
Jim is survived by his wife Siu and son Michael. His family requests that donations in Jim’s memory be made to The Parkinson's Institute, 1170 Morse Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94089.
I interviewed once with Bob Dobkin and Jim. Bob offered the best French restaurant in Palo Alto but we ended up in Jim's backyard with burgers and beer. His collection of antique instruments is incredible. He has Lord Kelvin's galvanometer, an original 1700's ship's chronometer, on and on.
A pity his name is not among these.
Jim Williams - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Never heard of him before. But now I am curious. Especially since he was an autodidact.
Jim Williams - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Never heard of him before. But now I am curious. Especially since he was an autodidact.
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Thanks for the post, have to admit ignorance to the man, but based on the above including the various comments posted , absolutely our lost ...
RIP Jim ...
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