Remember the reader - Donald Christiansen and the making of IEEE Spectrum [Spectral Lines]

It was the summer of 1963, and at a staff meeting at Electronic Design magazine, the topic of the day was a potentially fearsome new competitor. The IEEE, only a few months old, was about to introduce a magazine. Around the table at Electronic Design, there was a palpable sense of concern that the upstart publication, which would be called IEEE Spectrum, would draw away readers and advertisers. But the worry soon passed, says an editor who was at the meeting, when the IEEE revealed that the new magazine wouldn't be led by an experienced publishing hand. In keeping with the usual practice of association publications, the name at the top of the masthead would be that of a part-time volunteer. And his responsibilities would include not only Spectrum but all the publications of the individual IEEE societies.