Tell us a little about yourself and your family, George.

I'm a rarity — a Florida native — born in Jacksonville. Was graduated with BS and MS degrees from the University of Florida. Still married (after 40 years) to Glenda Magee. We have two children and two grandchildren. Glenda tells people we almost named our first-born "IEEE.â€�

What's the best thing about living in Florida? The worst?

It's the land of three seasons — no serious winter — so outdoor activities are always available. And in Winter Park we're only 13 miles from Orlando International Airport, the busiest in Florida. The downside, especially recently, is vulnerability to hurricane damage — roofs, trees, power outages.

Did you always want to be an engineer – even when you were a little boy? If not, what did you want to be?

My mother wanted me to follow in her footsteps, as a pianist, and I dutifully took piano lessons, but I eluded that as a career. As a boy, I liked my electric trains and my Erector set (AC Gilbert's Master Builder model), so that was a possible career path for things electrical or mechanical. Toyed with building design and considered architecture, but settled on electrical engineering — although I had never met an engineer before I went to college. At that time (pre-Sputnik), there were only two EE options — power and communications. I chose the latter because I became interested in electronics and hated the lab courses on rotating machinery.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Thomas Jefferson, because he was both a contributor to the public good and an innovator. He negotiated the Louisiana Purchase, established the Library of Congress and had numerous innovations at his home in Monticello, Virginia, such as a bed dividing his sitting room and study — depending on which side of the bed he used he would be in one of the other — French doors, where opening one automatically opened the other, a weathervane dial that extended through the roof of the porch, so you could see which way the wind is blowing while seated, and a portable writing desk (now in the Smithsonian but hobbyists can build replicas from kits which are available today). As president, Jefferson deployed the small U.S. Navy to cruise the Barbary coast, where pirates from Tripoli were marauding shipping. Eventually, we prevailed, and "the shores of Tripoli" became part of the Marine Corps hymn.

What misconceptions do people have about engineers?

If they think about engineers at all, it is usually that we are misanthropic calculating engines — or nerds. The press likes to report on innovations or achievements by "scientists," rarely by engineers — even if it's the launch of a communications satellite or space probe. Former (1972) IEEE president Robert Tanner (an acoustical engineer who retired to Naples, Florida) liked to ask people to count the electric motors in their homes to see how they depended on engineers. In a workshop in the UK this year, the same exercise is included — using the automobile as the host.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Not running out of enjoyable things to do that also help others. Sailing is a close second, but time spent sailing also is time to think about other things. If you haven't been on the Gulf in a sailboat with a gentle breeze, and heard what you thought was a dog barking only to find it was a porpoise close aboard up for air while diving for fish, you have been missing something. A minor triumph was winning a sailing regatta in the Gonaives Channel off Hispanola in 1986. I say "minor" because I had a stacked deck — most of the sailboats were Sunfishes with two people aboard, but there were a few Lasers — a faster boat — and I sailed alone in one of those. But the medal is real!

Tell us your best hurricane story…

The best hurricane is one that misses you. Hurricane David in 1979, did that, changing course from northwest to north and running up the east coast of Florida offshore as a Category 4. The worst was Charley two years ago that included a tornado (now called mesovortices) that came directly over our home in Winter Park, en route from Naples to Daytona Beach, taking down 40-year old oak trees, which in turn uprooted water mains, twisting traffic signals, and stripping shingles from roofs — all in 45 minutes. In 24 hours it went from Naples to South Carolina. With trees lying across all the streets and power out for a week, life got back to basics — I had to walk two miles to get the daily newspaper. The propane gas grill on the screened porch became our food preparation center. Charley was followed by Frances and Jeanne. Counting Ivan, that roared up the Gulf to the Florida panhandle, we had four hurricanes in two months. All those names, like Katrina, have been officially retired.

I remember battening down sheet plastic on the roof with a battery-powered screwdriver, after Jeanne, to cover 100 square feet where the roofing shingles had all been blown off, just before flying to California for a IEEE meeting. Traveling 2500 miles for a hot shower — that was a first for me.

Who are your favorite writers?

I find history fascinating. As George Santayana noted, those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Will and Ariel Durant's "Story of Civilization" was a triumphal work. With my Navy background — I was an instructor at Annapolis for two years — I appreciated Admiral Samuel Eliot Morrison's "The Oxford History of the American People." Arnold Toynbee's "A Study of History" was also valuable. Harry Truman read biographies for insights while Dwight Eisenhower liked to read westerns for relaxation. Further afield, I like William Safire who, at one time, was a speech writer for a governor of Florida, but later gained reputation for his essays on lexicography as well as his political insights. He wrote "The First Dissident," setting the Book of Job in today's politics.

More obscure is the role of gambling in developing the structure for mathematics, probability and statistics that we still use today. One of the first was Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576), a physician, scholar, and gambler, who wrote "The Book on Games of Chance," later incorporated into "The Gambling Scholar," by Oystein Ore.

What is your most distinctive characteristic?

Two phrases: Nothing simple is ever easy, and, the more things change the more they stay the same. [Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, Alphonse Karr, Les Guêpes 1849]

Both are true! My children, while growing up, heard me comment often on things that were remarkable, and started playing it back to me: "Well, imagine that!" Another one they say I overused was "the miracle of compound interest," when I was encouraging them to save part of their allowance, and later to contribute the maximum to their 401(k) plans.

My Scottish ancestors on the Isle of Skye had a motto: "Hold Fast." I translate that as Edison did — into persistence and perseverance. A variation on that is "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well.â€�

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