Radio pioneer Cyril Moreau Jansky was born on June 28, 1895 in Delton, Michigan. In 1908, his parents Cyril M. and Nellie Moreau Jansky moved the family to Madison, Wisconsin, where the elder Jansky taught electrical engineering at the University of Wisconsin.
After graduating from Madison High in 1913, Jansky attended the University of Wisconsin and earned two degrees in physics, a B.S. in 1917 and an M.S. in 1919. While still in college, Jansky began his long association with radio. Working on radiotelephony and radiotelegraphy under the guidance of Professor Earle M. Terry, Jansky was instrumental in the early broadcasts of station 9XM (WHA). In addition to conducting radio reception tests, he constructed by hand the vacuum tubes required for operation of the station.
After receiving his master's degree, Jansky became an assistant in the Department of Physics at Madison. In 1920, Jansky accepted the position of associate professor of radio engineering at the University of Minnesota. Besides teaching and helping to establish the college radio station (9XI), he also served as a consultant on matters concerning broadcasting facilities and operations.
During the early 1920s, Jansky wrote and spoke extensively on station broadcast coverage. Because of this expertise he was invited to participate in four radio conferences called by Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover between 1922 and 1925. The conferences, which addressed the allocation of broadcast frequencies, resulted in the passage of the Radio Act of 1927. In 1929, Jansky was nominated by President Calvin Coolidge to represent the Midwest as a member of the Federal Radio Commission. However, Congress adjourned without confirming his appointment.
After two years of independent consulting in Washington, D.C., Jansky began a long and successful partnership with Stuart Bailey in 1930. Bailey, a former Department of Commerce radio engineer, had also been a Jansky student at the University of Minnesota. Jansky & Bailey initially represented radio stations before the Federal Communications Commission and conducted radio coverage surveys. They later enlarged the scope of their work to include systems engineering and research and development.
When the company was incorporated in 1953, Jansky became the chairman of the board. Six years later, the company became a division of the Atlantic Research Corporation. Jansky also attended important international conferences and wrote many papers and reports on the subject.
Throughout his career, Jansky was an active member of numerous professional societies and organizations. He helped to organize the National Association of Broadcasters and in 1934 served as president of the Institute of Radio Engineers. In 1957 Jansky received a distinguished service award from the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters. He was also honored many times by the University of Wisconsin for his accomplishments in the field of radio and for his association with WHA, the “oldest station in the nation.”
Jansky was married to Marguerite Sammis in 1919; he died in March 1975.
