Vern Oliver Knudsen (December 27, 1893 – May 13, 1974) was an American

acoustical Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

Biography

Knudsen received his bachelor's degree from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

(BYU) with an A.B. in 1915. Following his graduation from BYU Knudsen served a mission for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

from 1915-1918 in the Northern States Mission, which was headquartered in Chicago. Knudsen then joined the staff of

Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial Research and development, research and scientific developm ...

where he worked with

Harvey Fletcher Harvey Fletcher (September 11, 1884 – July 23, 1981) was an American physicist. Known as the "father of stereophonic sound", he is credited with the invention of the 2-A audiometer and an early electronic hearing aid. He was an investigator i ...

, who had been one of his professors at BYU. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1922. Vern Knudsen's publications include two seminal books, "Architectural Acoustics," published in 1932, and "Acoustical Designing in Architecture" with

Cyril M. Harris Cyril Manton Harris (June 20, 1917 – January 4, 2011) was Professor Emeritus of Architecture and Charles Batchelor Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering at Columbia University. He received his B.S. in mathematics and his M.S. in physics ...

, 1950. He co-founded the

Acoustical Society of America The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is an international scientific society founded in 1929 dedicated to generating, disseminating and promoting the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications. The Society is primarily a voluntary org ...

(ASA), and served as its president, 1933–35, and the ASA awarded him the

Wallace Clement Sabine Medal The Wallace Clement Sabine Medal of the Acoustical Society of America is presented to an individual of any nationality who has advanced the science of architectural acoustics, either by being published in professional journals or periodicals, or b ...

in 1958 and the Gold Medal in 1967. He was the recipient of the John H. Potts (Gold) Medal from the

Audio Engineering Society The Audio Engineering Society (AES) is a professional body for engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or product ...

(AES) in 1964. In 1934, Vern Knudsen was made

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the Graduate Division of the Southern Section of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, University of Califor ...

, a post which he held for 24 years and during which time the UCLA Graduate Division increased from 287 to 5160. He served as

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

from 1959 to 1960, where there is a building named in his honor. Knudsen was the director of the University of California Division of War Research during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he helped improve

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

.Noise and Sound in the Sea
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References

External links

Archival materials relating to Vern Oliver Knudsen
in the

L. Tom Perry Special Collections The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's special ...

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gran ...

1893 births 1974 deaths 20th-century American physicists American acoustical engineers Engineers from California American Mormon missionaries in the United States Brigham Young University alumni University of Chicago alumni Leaders of the University of California, Los Angeles Fellows of the American Physical Society Acoustical Society of America 20th-century Mormon missionaries Latter Day Saints from Utah ASA Gold Medal recipients Latter Day Saints from New Jersey Latter Day Saints from Illinois Latter Day Saints from California {{US-academic-scientist-stub