Wouk, Victor (Electrical engineer)

Dates

• Existence: 1919 - 2005

Biographical/Historical

Background: Caltech alumnus (MS, 1940; PhD, 1942).

Biographical/Historical

Description: VICTOR WOUK was born in the Bronx, in New York City, in 1919. He received his bachelor's degree from Columbia College (1939) and his master's (1940) and doctoral degrees (1942) from the California Institute of Technology, in electrical engineering. His subsequent work and research have been extraordinarily diverse-ranging from processing frozen shrimp to extending incandescent lamp life-although most of his time and energy have been devoted to the development of hybrid motor vehicles and the use of semiconductors in electric vehicles. In the course of his career, he has been granted numerous patents, expertly managed several successful businesses and consulted for such organizations as the U.S. Department of Energy, MIT, and NASA. Victor is the younger brother of novelist Herman Wouk.

Biographical/Historical

Collection Notes: Oral history, 2004: In this 77-page interview with Judith Goodstein, Wouk recalls his years as a student at Caltech, with reminiscences of R. Millikan, S. Mackeown, W. Pickering, R. Sorensen and others; recalls also the war years at Caltech (WWII). He describes his career, primarily in the development of electric and hybrid vehicles, including problems in relations with government officials.

Papers, 1932-2004: The papers of Victor Wouk represent the notable diversity of his career, but most of the material in the collection relates to his work on electric and hybrid vehicles, and in particular the day-to-day operations of his two principal companies, Victor Wouk Associates and Petro-Electric Vehicles. Correspondence between Wouk and other businesses-engineering firms, automotive manufacturers-accounts for at least one-third of his papers and provides a good window on the life of a research scientist/entrepreneur. The collection also contains letters between Victor and his brother, Herman Wouk.

Collection size: 32 linear ft.

Found in 14 Collections and/or Records: