How we began [Spectral Lines]

Fifty years ago this month, members of the IEEE got the first tangible benefit of their membership-a fat, glossy magazine with a jazzy red pattern on the cover. Inside, the magazine's volunteer editor, a plainspoken, 56-year-old engineering dean from the Midwestern United States named John D. Ryder, launched the first-ever Spectral Lines column with a hearty hello.