Stanford Caldwell Hooper (August 16, 1884 – April 6, 1955) was a Rear Admiral of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, and a noted

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

pioneer who has been called "the Father of Naval Radio". Hooper conducted pioneering radio tests, established land stations for communication with the fleet, and served as technical advisor and head of many boards and committees dealing with communications.

Biography

Hooper was born in Colton, California, and educated in the

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

public schools. At age 8 his father built him a

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

transmitter and taught him Morse code; by age 10 he was working as a relief telegraph operator during summer vacations. He entered the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

at age 15, and after graduation in 1905 served on various ships. From 1910-1911 he taught

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physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, and chemistry at the Naval Academy, then from 1912-1914 (and again 1923-1925) served as the first Fleet Radio Officer, where he created the Navy's tactical signaling codes. During 1915-1917, 1919–1923 and 1926-1928 he was in charge of the Navy's Radio Division. In 1917-1918 he commanded the , for which he was awarded the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps' second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is eq ...

for distinguished service. In 1922 he supervised installation of the first wireless telephone in the

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for President

Warren Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

. In 1928 he was appointed the Chief Engineer for the new

Federal Radio Commission The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by t ...

, the predecessor of the

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. Afterward he served as

Director of Naval Communications {{Refimprove, date=March 2017 Director of Naval Communications was a post on the staff of the United States Navy's Chief of Naval Operations responsible for organizing, administering and operating the Naval Communications Service. In Navy parlance ...

from 1928 to 1934, and on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations in various capacities until June 1942, having won promotion to rear admiral in June 1938. He was forcibly retired in January 1943 following a clash with

chairman

James Lawrence Fly James Lawrence "Larry" Fly (February 22, 1898 – January 6, 1966) was an American lawyer, famous as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and, later, director of the American Civil Liberties Union. He helped inaugurate standards fo ...

in mid-1942, though remained activated until June 1945. He became a contractor with commercial electronics firms after retiring until his death.

Awards and honors

Hooper received the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1934 "for the orderly planning and systematic organization of radio communication in the Government Service with which he is associated, and the concomitant and resulting advances in the development of radio equipment and procedure." In 1945 he received the Elliott Cresson Medal for research in radio electronics from the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

of Philadelphia, and in 1948 an honorary LL.D. from

Drury College Drury University, formerly Drury College and originally Springfield College, is a private university in Springfield, Missouri. The university's mission statement describes itself as "church-related". It enrolls about 1,700 undergraduate and grad ...

. He also received the French

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, the Department of Navy Electronics Trophy, and the Marconi Medal of Honor. The destroyer was named in his honor, and he is honored annually via the Rear Admiral S. C. Hooper Trophy.

References

IEEE History Center biography
* Susan J. Douglas, "The Navy Adopts the Radio, 1899-1919", in ''Military Enterprise and Technological Change: Perspectives on the American Experience'', Merritt Roe Smith (ed.), MIT Press, 1985, pages 154-174. . * "Wireless Telephone Receiver Installed in Harding's Study", ''The New York Times'', February 9, 1922.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Stanford Caldwell 1884 births 1955 deaths Engineers from California American electrical engineers Radio pioneers IEEE Medal of Honor recipients United States Navy rear admirals United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy personnel of World War I United States Navy World War II admirals Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States) People from Colton, California Military personnel from California