Victor J. Andrew: Difference between revisions

In his earlier years, his interest in the physical sciences, particularly the electrical sciences began to grow. His older cousins were amateur radio operators and had given him radio equipment to experiment with. He would begin to construct things with whatever he could find, such as discarded electrical parts from the city dump. At the age of fifteen, he became the first mobile radio serviceman in [[Wooster, Ohio|Wooster]], Ohio. At seventeen he had his own operating amateur radio station.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Cox |first=Russell |orig-date=January 1972 |title=The Andrew Communicator |publication-place=Andrew Corporation}}</ref>.

== Higher Educationeducation, Employmentemployment, and the Greatgreat Depressiondepression ==

Andrew began his higher education at the [[College of Wooster|The College of Wooster]]. He found interest in the fields of mathematics, physics, and economics. From 1923-1924 he served as chief engineer of WABW radio station owned by the college. Since he had already taken all of the math and science courses offered by the College of Wooster, he did research in association with the U.S. Naval Laboratory in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington D.C.]] on [[Radio propagation|radio wave propagation]].<ref name=":1" />.

After he graduated with his masters in 1928, he began to look for work, although it was hard to find. He moved to Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts to work for [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation|Westinghouse Electric]] at the firm’s [[x-ray tube]] facility.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/internationaldir0032unse |title=International directory of company histories|volume=32 |date=2000 |publisher=Detroit, Mich. : St. James Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-55862-673-7}}</ref>. This didn’t last long though, as he was let go after the stock market crash on October 29, 1929. Given the opportunity to continue his studies, the couple moved back to Chicago so he would be able to pursue his PhD at the University of Chicago.

After graduating with a PhD in physics in 1932,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Andrew |first=Victor J. |date=1932-12-01 |title=<nowiki>The Relative Intensities of the $L{\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{1}$, ${\ensuremath{\beta}}_{1}$, ${\ensuremath{\beta}}_{2}$, and ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{1}$ Lines in Tantalum, Tungsten, Iridium, and Platinum</nowiki> |url=https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRev.42.591 |journal=Physical Review |volume=42 |issue=5 |pages=591–608 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.42.591}}</ref>, he began to look for new work. However, he lost two other jobs by 1934 due to the depression. Even though his hope was diminishing he began to work at Doolittle Radio Inc. With his position undefined, and the company rapidly declining, he searched for a way for the company to make more money. After finding the inventions of his predecessors going untouched he eventually became a salesman, selling these designs. After about two years he quit and took several business courses so that he could start a similar business.

[[File:Andrew-corporation.svg|thumb|The corporation's logo]]

After leaving his position at Doolittle Radio Inc., Andrew started up the Andrew Company out of the basement of his rented home on January 1, 1937. This was illegal due to zoning laws], but law enforcement often didn’t enforce these laws. Andrew Corporation started as both a manufacturing and engineering consulting company. However, with the WWII ban on new station construction not much consulting was needed, so the Andrew Corporation quickly shifted their focus to manufacturing. Manufacturing for the U.S. military helped the corporation grow in ways it never had when its sole customer base was civilian.<ref name=":2" />.

Victor and his wife, Aileen, adopted two children: Edward John and Juanita  Andrew Hord. Their children accompanied them on business trips as they marketed and expanded the company.{{cn|date=September 2024}} His wife Aileen passed away in 1967 in Australia. He later married his second wife, Rose Metz Andrew in 1969.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

Victor J. Andrew passed away on October 30, 1971, in his home in Claremont, California. He was buried in Orland Memorial Park Cemetery.{{cn|date<ref name=September":1" 2024}}/>

Aileen and Victor created the Aileen S. Andrew Foundation in 1947. The foundation offers various grants and scholarships.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aileen S Andrew Foundation {{!}} Foundation Directory {{!}} Candid |url=https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/fdo-grantmaker-profile/?key=ANDR003 |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=fconline.foundationcenter.org}}</ref>.

In 1977, [[Victor J. Andrew High School]] in Tinley Park was named after him with the logo being the Thunderbolts to commemorate Andrew Corporation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Andrew / About Andrew |url=https://www.d230.org/domain/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.d230.org%2Fsite%2Fdefault.aspx%3FDomainID%3D244 |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=www.d230.org |language=en}}</ref>.

Andrew Corporation became a publicly traded company in 1981.<ref>"Chicago's Top 100". ''Chicago Tribune''. May 3, 1998. [[ProQuest (identifier)|ProQuest]] 2289043420.</ref>. In 2007 the Andrew Corporation. was bought out by [[CommScope]] for 2.6 billion dollars.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CommScope Completes $2.65 Billion Acquisition of Andrew |url=https://www.commscope.com/press-releases/2007/commscope-completes-$2.65-billion-acquisition-of-andrew |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=CommScope |language=en}}</ref>.