Don Bush was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1942. He passed away on December 19, 2001 after a courageous battle with cancer.

Don attended his first IEEE EMC Symposium in Washington DC in 1967 and his last in Montreal in 2001, where he received an Honorary Life Membership in the EMC Society and a Certificate of Technical Achievement for “Contributions to the Development of Spread Spectrum Clocking Technology.” At the time, Don commented, “The Honorary Life Membership in the EMC Society is my most cherished award.”

Upon graduation from the Speed Scientific School of the University of Louisville where he earned his BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering, Don started his career in the IBM Office Products Division (OPD) in Lexington, Kentucky. Some years later he met Clayton Paul, who had joined the faculty at the University of Kentucky. They were the only two members of the IEEE EMC Society in Kentucky and became life long friends.

Don got involved in ESD simulation and commercial product support in 1968. When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) started looking at the interference potential of computers in the mid 1970’s, the entire IBM EMC community was involved in studying this very critical issue. Don was involved in the EMI measurement and suppression of the consumer products of IBM. Virtually all of these products connected to 120 VAC outlets or were battery powered. Don led and originated several of the 120 V powerline conducted EMI studies, such as antenna proximity to Data Processing Systems. Over the years, IBM developed many internal EMC standards and design criteria, as did most other large companies. Don was named EMC coordinator and represented the low-end EMC issues in all corporate standards meetings.

Don was named Corporate Standards Project Authority for Electromagnetic Susceptibility in 1985, and held this post until 1991, when IBM decided to spin off what had become the PC printer and typewriter division. Lexmark was born. Don was a Senior Engineer and technical team leader of the Lexmark EMC laboratory. He held a patent on Spread Spectrum Clock Generation, which was assigned to Lexmark International.

Don retired from IBM/Lexmark in 1996 and founded dBi Corporation which provided EMC services such as seminars, EMI/EMC measurements, and design consultation. He was a registered professional engineer and a NARTE certified EMC engineer. He was elected to the IEEE EMC Society Board of Directors for a three-year term beginning in 1999. Don is survived by his wife Sandra, three children, and three grandchildren. EMC

Don Bush was a Distinguished Lecturer for the EMC Society. In this capacity, he frequently traveled to various chapters of the EMC Society to present lectures on such topics as spread spectrum clocking technology. Mr. Bush won the EMC Society’s “Certificate of Technical Achievement” at the 2001 IEEE International Symposium on EMC in Montreal for his contributions to the development of this technology. He will be remembered as a lively lecturer as evident in these photos.

Don Bush enjoyed his membership in the dB Society. He regularly attended their annual “picnic” along with his wife Sandy. They are shown here at the dB Society’s French themed picnic in Montreal, Canada in August 2001.