Pat Youtz interview: January 26, 1970
Regina Mertz · 1999
Pat Youtz was born on April 4, 1907, Sunbury, Pennsylvania. He attended Bucknell University and later graduated from the University of Chicago with a master's and a doctorate in mathematics. At the onset of World War II, Youtz began his own consulting firm dealing with cathode ray tube devices. Youtz also taught evening courses at the American Television Institute, Illinois Institute, and later at the Signal Corps Schools in the Chicago area. In 1944, Youtz was hired by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a lecturer in the Radar School. He conducted research in and trained personnel for work with radar equipment. In 1945, Youtz joined the Servomechanisms Laboratory at MIT. This work entailed work on the controls for radar antennae on ships. Youtz recalls his visit to the Eckert- Mauchly Group to view the electronic Numerical Integrator and Automatic Computer (ENIAC). Youtz comments at length on the development of the electrostatic tube for Forrester's WHIRLWIND Project. Frequently mentioned names include L.L. Thurstone, Jay Forrester, J. Presper Eckert, John Mauchly, John von Neumann, Donald Forbes, Frank Caswell, and Steve Dodd.