R. David Middlebrook, 80

Pasadena, Calif.-R. David Middlebrook, emeritus professor of electrical engineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), passed away on April 16. He was 80 years old. Middlebrook died at his home with family by his side. Born in 1929, he was raised in Newcastle, England, and came to the United States in 1952 on the Queen Mary. Middlebrook wrote a pioneering transistor textbook that included mathematical models to help engineers use transistors in their circuit designs; a later book focused on differential amplifiers. In 1970, he founded the Caltech Power Electronics Group.