Daily Trojan via U-Wire
University Wire
June 15, 2005 Wednesday

USC engineering school pioneer dies

By Archana Prakash, Daily Trojan; SOURCE: USC

LOS ANGELES

University of Southern California educator, innovator and
administrator Jack Munushian, largely responsible for starting the
Viterbi School of Engineering’s Distance Education Network and
creating the computer science department, died on May 28 of heart
failure at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. He was 81.

“Jack had an enormous influence on the school of engineering,” said
William Steier, professor of electrical engineering and close friend
of Munushian. “We will forever be indebted to him.”

Munushian began teaching at USC in 1957 and played an integral role
in making the school of engineering at USC one of the major research
schools in the nation, Steier said.

Solomon Golomb, a professor of electrical engineering who met
Munushian in 1957, said Munushian had experience writing successful
proposals to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Having worked in the aerospace industry, Munushian also had the
advantage of seeing firsthand the struggles engineers had obtaining
higher education in the university setting.

“Jack realized that there was a tremendous need to provide graduate
education to the thousands of employees in an efficient fashion,”
said Leonard Silverman, professor of electrical engineering systems.
“At the time they had to drive to USC or UCLA after work in heavy
traffic.”

Munushian had the idea for the Instructional Television Network
(ITV), a system where classes could be broadcast on television so
that industry professionals could attend school more easily.
Convincing the Olin foundation to help the school create such a
program, Munushian also used his ties to the aerospace industry to
make ITV successful.

“Jack persuaded them to give the university some of the last
available frequencies broadcasted from Signal Hill, at a time where
television channels were hard to come by,” Golomb said. “He handled
all the details of what became an unbelievably successful activity in
the late 1960s.”

Thousands of workers soon obtained their masters degrees through ITV,
and the tuition revenue generated helped hire much of the faculty
that made the engineering school a premier research institution,
according to Silverman. USC’s Distance Education Network, ITV’s
successor, remains an important part of the Viterbi School of
Engineering.

As a service to the school of engineering and his good friend Zohrab
Kaprelian, the dean of the school of engineering, Munushian also took
a major role in organizing the school’s computer science department,
despite being trained as a materials scientist.

“He was an excellent administrator,” said George Bekey, professor of
computer science. “He would push for new projects and ideas without
making people angry.”

In addition to his administrative duties, Munushian also taught
electromagnetics and entrepreneurial classes.

“Jack was a great person to work for and work with,” Steier said.
“His students really looked up to him.”

Born in Rochester, N.Y., to Armenian immigrant parents, Munushian
lost his mother and brother at a young age. Munushian served in the
army during World War II and later attended the University of
California at Berkeley where he received a Ph.D. in physics. He was
one of the first to receive his higher level education on the GI
Bill.

Munushian was always very respectful of his background and heritage,
said Mihran Agbabian, professor emeritus of civil engineering and a
good friend of Munushian.

“When we were in graduate school together, we went to San Francisco
to see a movie made in Armenia. It was the sort of film that could be
easily ridiculed, but Jack told us to remember it was about Armenia,
and that we should not make fun of it,” he said.

Munushian worked for Hughes Aircraft Co. and Aerospace Corporation in
managerial positions before becoming a full professor in 1967. He
remained a professor emeritus until his death.

Toward the end of his life, Munushian’s health rapidly declined and
he lost his sight. An avid reader, Munushian set up a special audio
system that allowed him to “read” books and newspapers.

Agbabian said Munushian took a very scientific approach to
understanding the degenerative disease that caused him to lose his
sight, and he became a generous benefactor to the Foundation Fighting
Blindness.

Munushian always had a soft spot for the less fortunate, and while at
USC he became very involved with Swim with Mike, as he was an
excellent swimmer himself. Despite his blindness, he continued to
swim laps at the YMCA, using the ropes as his guide.

“Jack will be remembered in his recent years as a survivor who
vanquished all physical handicaps and for his strong belief in the
power of positive thinking,” Agbabian said.

Munushian was a resident of the Bel-Air neighborhood of Los Angeles.
He never married and is survived only by distant relatives.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress