Richard Greiner

Madison- Dr. Richard A. Greiner, Emeritus Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, passed away on January 29, 2015 at Agrace Hospice Center after an extended illness. Dr. Greiner was born on February 13, 1931 to Lorraine Zeihm and Richard Greiner in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Dr. Greiner received all of his degrees from the University of Madison-Wisconsin, including a bachelor's degree (1954) and a master's degree (1955), both in Physics, and a PhD from the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1957. Immediately upon receiving his doctorate he was appointed Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering in that department. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1959 and to Full Professor at 1961 at the very young age of 30.

His research of and expertise in included many fields through his professional life: electronics, vacuum tube design, transistor design, solid state devices, acoustics, digital signal processing, digital control systems, acoustic noise control and others. In addition to his teaching and research he took a leave from teaching from 1973 to 1980 to serve as Senior Academic Planner in Academic Affairs in the UW System Administration.

Even before he started his studies and teaching at UW-Madison Dr. Greiner developed interests that would play a vital role in his entire life, including photography, music and astronomy. He had an extensive collection of compact discs (and before that vinyl records), having had the honor of being the first person in Madison to own a CD player in the early 1980s. He was a member of the Audio Engineering Society, serving as a Fellow in 1984 and a Governor in 1986.

His interest in and support of astronomical studies is legendary. He was a lifetime honorary member of the Madison Astronomical Society and along with several colleagues he built the first Doc Greiner Research Observatory in 2006 followed by two improved observatories in 2009 and 2011.

Another favorite hobby was mineral collecting. In March 2008 the Department of Geology at the University of Wisconsin accepted a gift of his entire collection, naming it in his honor.

The most recent hobby which combined art and science was creating beautiful glass pieces. He studied hand blown glass and fused glass. He had a kiln in his studio and took weekly lessons ever improving and expanding his works of art. Some of his work was created and can be seen at the 'Art on 23 Gallery' in Spring Green Wisconsin.

Pursuant to Dr. Greiner's wishes there will be no memorial service.

'Doc' is survived by his many friends.