Prof. Pete Rodrigue received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in physics from Louisiana State University and his Ph.D. in applied physics from Harvard University. From 1958 to 1968, he worked for the Sperry Microwave Electronics Company in Clearwater, Florida, where he conducted research on properties and microwave applications of ferrites and developed parametric amplifiers and microwave acoustic devices. In 1968, Dr. Rodrigue joined the School of Electrical Engineering at Georgia Tech at the rank of professor and was promoted to Regents’ Professor in 1977. He introduced new microwave courses for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as in continuing education programs.
A Fellow of the IEEE, Dr. Rodrigue was highly involved in many different IEEE leadership activities, serving as an elected member of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) AdCom from 1970-1979 and as MTT-S president in 1976. He also served on the IEEE Board of Directors and as IEEE Vice President of Publication Activities. He received the Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Teacher Award twice (1971 and 1979), which was determined by a majority vote of the EE senior class, and the Georgia Tech Outstanding Teacher Award in 1972, as well as the IEEE MTT-S Distinguished Educator Award in 1995 and several more teaching and service awards from IEEE. He leaves a long and enduring impact with the thousands of students that he taught, advised, and mentored during his career at Georgia Tech.