Edward Ginzton

Edward Ginzton — co-founder of Varian Associates

Edward Ginzton (1915-1998), co-founder of Varian Associates, helped pioneer the development of Klystron radio tubes for use in radar and linear accelerators. During World War II, Ginzton worked with a Stanford team hired to employ the klystron in radar, which played an important role in the war. He later joined brothers Sigurd and Russell Varian, who invented the klystron, to form Varian Associates, which played a major role in Silicon Valley’s early development and became the world leader in medical linear accelerators.

Ginzton earned his doctorate in electrical engineering at Stanford. As a professor of electrical engineering and applied physics, Ginzton led a Stanford team that designed the world’s most powerful particle accelerator. He received the IEEE Medal of Honor, and was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences.