Tribute to Dr. James L. Lawson

Tribute to Dr. James L. Lawson - WA2SFP / W2PV
sk April 1993 at 66 years old

Mr. Lawson was a famous contester, winning several contests and setting records, multi / multi station designer & owner, antenna designer.
He is a member of the CQ Contest Hall of Fame (#9).

He would invited many hams to help run multi / multi contests at his fabulous contest station, antenna farm, and mentor them in contesting.

Jim had a series of articles on yagi antennas in Ham Radio Magazine from August 1979 thru December 1980. He also had a book called "Yagi-Antenna Design" that was published by ARRL in 1986.

W2PV is now owned by the Yankee Clipper Contest Club.

Read the "Station of the Month" article on W2PV by John Dorr K1AR and Bill Myers K1GQ

Dr. James L. Lawson was a retired physicist and planner for the General Electric Company who contributed to the development of radar, nuclear-particle accelerators and electronics. Dr. Lawson was manager of research and development planning for the company from 1974 to 1976 and then a consultant until his retirement in 1981. He was among the G.E. scientists who designed and constructed a new and advanced form of atom smasher, known as a non-ferromagnetic synchrotron, that was used to study the effects of high-energy radiation in nuclear research. Its successful operation was first announced by the company in April 1950. Dr. Lawson, who was named head of the nuclear-investigation division shortly after joining the company in 1945, also planned and supervised the construction of a gamma-ray spectroscope for analyzing x-ray particles. He later directed work in advanced military communications systems, solid-state physics, integrated circuitry and computer science.

Dr. Lawson was also an active ham radio operator with the call W2PV, winning several national competitions. Another hobby was mountain climbing, and the Matterhorn in Switzerland and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania were among the peaks he scaled.

Dr. Lawson was born in Madura, India, and came to the United States when he was 13, growing up in Lawrence, KS. He received bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Kansas and a doctorate from the University of Michigan. During World War II, he was associated with the Radiation Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. James L. Lawson Memorial Scholarship
A one-time award of $500 is available to general amateur radio operators. For Baccalaureate or higher course of study in electronics, communications, or a related field. Preference given to residents of New England states (ME, NH, VT, CT, RI, MA) and New York state and attending college in any of those states. Sponsored by: American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Foundation, Inc.

W2PV QSL from the estate of W4ZYK
AC2PV QSL Courtesy of I4ZSQ
WA2SFP QSL from the estate of W1TYQ
Tnx W1RAN, K8MFO
Station of the Month pdf file by K1AR, K1GQ
GE Info from New York Times article
Other info courtesy of K8CX