Robert “Bob” Ramey passed away on March 7, 2015, in Gainesville. Before his retirement from the University of Florida in 1982, Ramey was an associate dean of UF College of Engineering, a professor of electrical engineering, as well as computer and information science, the founding chairman of the Computer and Information Science Department, and associate director of the Engineering & Industrial Experiment Station. His contributions to the expansion of the college over the 1960s and 70s were substantial, and continue to affect the quality of programs offered. His family recalls he was most proud of an award he received from UF’s Minority Student Association for substantially increasing minority student enrollment at the university.
Ramey completed his Bachelor’s, masters and doctorate degrees at University of Cincinnati. He collaborated on U.S. military research during WWII; his dissertation was classified during the time he was writing it. He invented the electromagnetic underwater log, which serves as a speedometer for ships. Today, nearly every major sea-going vessel uses this device.
Before he came to UF, Ramey held various positions at Westinghouse Electric Corporation, where he helped design the control systems for the reactor of the first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus. He was also the Webster Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and worked at the Naval Research Laboratories.
He belonged to many professional organizations and was a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. He served as national chairman of the advisory committee of the Federal Laboratory Consortium.
Many friends and colleagues remember he and his wife Millie by the distinctive round house the two designed and built on the northwest edge of Gainesville.
Read more about professor Ramey’s life in the Gainesville Sun.