Leo Beranek, Noted Acoustic Engineer, Dies at 102

	Leo Beranek

Leo Bernanek, whose career as an acoustic engineer was part of a life of extended accomplishment, died on October 10 at his home in Westwood, Massachusetts, the New York Times has reported. He was 102.

Born in Solon, Iowa, in 1914, Beranek grew up in a several Iowa towns. He attended Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and received a doctorate from Harvard University in 1940. During World War II, he was the manager of Harvard's electro-acoustics laboratory, working on communications and noise-reduction systems for military aircraft. While at Harvard, he also built the first anechoic chamber.

After a short stint with a company known as Hush-A-Phone, Beranek spent 11 years (1947-58) as professor of communications engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1948, he also founded the acoustic consulting firm Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN). He published 1985 technical papers and 13 books. In 1954, he published Acoustics, a key textbook, which was revised in 1986; a new version, co-written with Tim Mellow, and published in 2012, is titled Acoustics: Sound Fields and Transducers. He also published in 1962 Music, Acoustics, and Architecture, based on a study of 55 international concert halls.

One of BBN's first major projects was the United Nations Building in New York. Among its signature concert halls are the Tanglewood's Koussevitzky Music Shed in Massachusetts; Tokyo Opera City Council Hall; New National Theater Opera House, also in Japan; Roy Thomson Hall, in Toronto; and several others. The firm worked on Philharmonic Hall at Lincoln Center, now known as David Geffen Hall. BBN also provided a sound system for the famous Papal Mass in Yankee Stadium in 1965 and assisted with the investigation of President Richard Nixon's Watergate tapes. The company was awarded in 1969 the contract to build ARPANET, the forerunner of the Internet.

Beranek Left BBN in 1969, becoming president of Boston Broadcasters, Inc. The company ran WCVB, Channel 5, in the Boston area. The station was eventually sold to Metromedia.

Beranek was chairman of the board of Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1983-86; he was a life trustee of the orchestra and served on MITs Council for the arts. His memoir, Riding the Waves: A Life in Sound, Science, and Industry, was published in 2008. He continued publishing until this year.

Beranek was a member of the National Academy of Engineering; fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; fellow, American Physical Society; honorary member, American Institute of Architects; and fellow, Institute of IEEE. He received the National Medal of Science in 2003; the IEEE Founders Medal; and gold medals from the Acoustical Society of America, Audio Engineering Society, and American Society of Mechanical Engineers; a lifetime achievement award from the International Commission on Acoustics; and the Abe Lincoln TV Award from the Radio and TV Commission. He held honorary doctors from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Northeastern University, Suffolk University, Cornell College, and Emerson College.

Beranek's first wife, Phyllis Knight Beranek, died after 42 years of marriage. He leaves his second wife, Gabrielle, sons James K. Beranek and Thomas B. Haynes, and a granddaughter.