Ronald Eugene Higginbotham

Dr. Ronald Eugene Higginbotham was born on August 16, 1939 in York Township, West Union, Illinois to the late Hershel and Dorothy Higginbotham. He passed away at his home in Bristow, VA on March 14, 2015 at 4:06 am at the age of 75. Ron attended Marshall High School in Marshall, IL. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Math from Rose Hulman Institute of Technology and his Master’s degree in Engineering Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. He earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Connecticut. As an engineer, Ron has had a vast array of experiences from undersea surveillance to the Apollo Spacecraft to computer technology within his career. He started with Hamilton Standard in Windsor Locks, CT, in June of 1961 then onto United Aircraft Corporation in Farminton, CT working on inertial guidance and control systems. He taught undergraduate electrical engineering subjects at the University of CT from 1965-1968. He provided design and analysis support to a NASA sponsored research project focused on the development of guidance and control systems. He went on to Houston, TX in 1968 to TRW Systems Group and was a member of the Technical Staff. He worked on the Lunar Module development, managed reaction control system propellant budgeting for the Apollo spacecraft, and managed simulation development and performance analysis of the Skylab Control-Moment-Gyroscope and thrust attitude control systems. In December of 1972, he moved to TRW Systems Group in McLean, VA. He was a member of the Technical Staff that provided systems engineering and integration guidance to Naval Electronics Systems on an undersea surveillance system project. In March of 1978, he worked for Floating Point Systems, Inc. in Riverdale, MD. He was the Southeast Analyst that covered from the Mississippi River to the east coast, parts of Canada and Puerto Rico. He provided engineering and integration support to customers for the company’s products. Products were the classical array processor, a mini-supercomputer, and a supercomputer. Applications included: (1) digital signal and image processing related to radar, sonar, speech, seismic, and telecommunications and (2) large scale engineering and scientific computing related to finite element analysis, computational chemistry, computational fluid dynamics and electronic circuit design. Beginning March 1988, Ron worked for General Electric Aerospace, Government Electronic Systems Division in Syracuse, NY. He organized and managed a 50 member Signal Conditioning/Signal Processing Unit in the Submarine Systems Engineering Subsection. He managed development of firm ware and hardware specifications for the Seawolf submarine combat system. April 1993 he worked for Martin Marietta Ocean, Radar, & Sensor Systems in Syracuse. He was the Principal Systems Engineer and the systems engineering and integration of all seven major acoustic sensor subsystems for the Seawolf Submarine combat system. March 1995 Ron worked for Lockheed Martin Ocean, Radar, & Sensor Systems. He was the Principal Systems Engineer and directed development of test requirement documents, test plans, and test procedures for the Seawolf Submarine combat control system. He managed testing of the combat control system. (The combat control system initialized properly the first time it was powered up on the submarine and its performance was generally outstanding in its first sea trials.) February 1997 he worked for Lockheed Martin Federal Systems in Manassas, VA. He was the Senior System Engineer. Ron managed the integration and test project for the New Attack Submarine (NSSN Virginia Class). Then in July 1999, Ron worked at the Center for Enterprise Modernization (CEM). He provided strategic planning, guidance and support to the IRS Business Systems Modernization Office. Ron supported that group with establishing an independent quality assurance program and led the team that supported the development of risk management directive, process, and procedures. Dr. Ronald Higginbotham taught classes at George Washington University and many courses within the companies that he worked for over the years. Dr. Higginbotham has been a life member of Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). He has been an elder in the Church of Christ in Liverpool, NY, Springfield, VA, and Manassas, VA. He enjoyed writing and teaching Bible classes, preaching, meeting people, serving as a Scoutmaster, doing genealogy research and wildlife photography. Ron is survived by his wife of 54 years, Phyllis Ann Quick Higginbotham. They have two children; their son, Eric and his wife, Melinda of Cloverdale, CA and their daughter, Atresa Lyn Swalina of Coconut Creek, FL. He has five grandchildren, Tyler and Greye Swalina of Florida, Allison Higginbotham and Kathryn and Nicholas Menzel of California. He is survived by one brother Robert Higginbotham and his wife Rosalee of West Union, IL He is also survived by many nieces and nephews. There will be a celebration of his life at The Manassas Church of Christ in Manassas, VA this summer. Date and time for service to be determined.

Ronald Eugene Higginbotham

August 16, 1939 - March 14, 2015