Richard C. Webb #484

Brother Richard Webb was born September 2nd, 1915 in Omaha, Nebraska. As an undergraduate at the University of Denver, Brother Webb was involved in several activities including memberships in Sigma Pi Sigma, a national honorary fraternity for physics and Mu Sigma Tau, a national honorary fraternity for engineering. Dick was also the President of American Institute of Electronic Engineers and a member of the Colorado Society of Engineers. He graduated from the DU with a BS in Electrical Engineering in 1937.

Brother Webb began working as a Telephone Engineer for Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph after graduation and stayed until 1939 – the year he was awarded one of the very first RCA Research Fellowships. He stayed on as an RCA Research Fellow and Instructor at Purdue University until 1945, earning a Master’s degree from Purdue in 1944. He became a Staff Research Engineer for RCA Laboratories in 1945 and held that position until 1953. Dick also began teaching, taking a position as Professor of Electrical Engineering at Iowa State College in 1950. In 1951, he received his Ph.D., again from Purdue University.

In 1954, he returned to the University of Denver as a Professor of Electrical Engineering. He also served as a Senior Research Engineer in the associated research facility, the Denver Research Institute, from 1954-1956. In 1956, Brother Webb founded the Colorado Research Corporation and served as its President and Technical Director until merging with ITT. In 1961, he founded Colorado Instruments and served as President and Technical Director until 1973. Colorado Instruments would later go on to merge with Mohawk Data Sciences Corporation. It is during this time (1963 to be precise) that Dick began as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Colorado. Brother Webb would found another company, Data Ray Corporation, in 1973. Data Ray was based in Westminster, Colorado and was a leading design consulting company for high-resolution computer monitors. In 1983, Dick sold the company to Nippon-Chemicon Ltd. of Tokyo. Although he formally retired after the sale of Data Ray, Dick did consulting work under the name of Webb Engineering Company.

In spite of his busy work schedule, Brother Webb found time to maintain a number of professional affiliations. He served as Chairman of the Rocky Mountain Section of the Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineers in 1956. From 1965-1970, Dick served as the Vice President and Director of the Western Electronic Manufacturers Association. He was an Advisory Panel Member for the National Research Council from 1963-1969 as well as a member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, the Acoustical Society of America, The Institute of Aerospace Sciences and the American Ordnance Association.

For a career that has resulted in his holding 29 patents in television and computers and the development of 30 products for the technical marketplace, Dick Webb has received his fair share of honor and recognition. He was awarded the Outstanding Research Award from RCA Laboratories in 1947 and 1949. He also received the Fellow Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 1958, the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award from Purdue University in 1970, the Outstanding Professional Achievement Award from the University of Denver in 1983, the Outstanding Electrical Engineer Award from Purdue in 1992 and an Honorary Degree, Sci.D., from the University of Denver in 1996. It should also be noted that Brother Webb’s work with the “Ray Kell’s color group” at RCA led to the invention of television and helped to create the first color television studio camera. Also, one of the companies that Dick created was responsible for the development of the first secure digital videophone system which was employed in the White House for 18 years.

Brother Webb is currently enjoying full retirement along with his wife Virginia. Dick and Virginia met in high school and married in 1941. They have one son, James R. Webb, who is also an engineer. Brother Webb is also a writer and has a new book out titled “Tele-Visionaries” that offers his personal historical perspective of the development of television and an overview of the technology and engineers who made it possible. Dick’s other hobbies include painting, playing music and operating ham radio.