Page 47 - Fall 2007

The Handbook of Recording Engineering, The Microphone Book, Handbook of Sound System Design, Electroacoustical Reference Data, The Loudspeaker Handbook, The JBL Story—60 Years of Audio Advancement, and Music, Sound, and Technology.
In addition to his extensive writings on and about sound and music reinforcement and recording techniques in the pop- ular press, he has written and co-authored over 40 articles that have appeared in the Journals of the AES and SMPTE. He also
provided erudite and entertaining patent reviews for Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. He was been a presenter on numerous occasions at the Los Angeles Chapter of the ASA, on many occasions for local chapters of the AES and the SMPTE, and for the Hollywood Sapphire group.
John Eargle was gracious and generous with his knowl- edge and time. He was an expert’s expert.
Neil Shaw
Henning Edgar von Gierke 1917 • 2007
Henning E. von Gierke was born in
Karlsruhe, Germany on 22 May 1917
into a family whose heritage included
medical doctors, scientists, lawyers and
artists. In the late 1930’s he began stud-
ies of electrical engineering and
acoustics at the Technical Universities in
Karlsruhe and Munich, receiving a
Doktor of Engineering (Communications
Engineering, Acoustics) in 1944. For his
thesis, he studied pure tone sound radi-
ation from gas jets under Professor
Herman Backhaus, a great researcher on
sound radiation from musical instru-
ments and loudspeakers. Henning’s
combined interest in physical principles
governing mechanical processes and
human responses formed the basis of his
professional career in studying the interaction of acoustical, mechanical energy with the human organism.
Henning was brought to the US in 1947 under “Operation Paperclip,” and began to work for the Army Air Corps in the Bio-acoustic Section of the Army Medical Research Laboratory (AMRL) at Wright Field, Ohio. Henning’s early years at Wright Field were dedicated to understanding the effects of aircraft noise on humans. His research on intense air- craft noise exposures defined new data on human tolerance limits, noise-induced hearing loss, auditory pain and hearing protection, all of which stand today. In 1957 he introduced the equal energy rule as the time-intensity trade-off for the Air Force hearing conservation regulation. Many years later he chaired the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) working group that prepared and obtained consensus for ISO 1999. His work also led to the development of human tol- erance criteria for vibration and shock that were used as the basis for an ISO comprehensive set of safety and performance consensus standards for vibration exposure.
To address the noise problems of residents near air bases, he led a ten year development for prediction of aircraft noise exposure near airports, estimating community response and preparing land use plans for the Air Force. This methodology,
published in 1964, provided the basis for the procedures in use today. In the early 1970's, he chaired the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) task force charged with meeting the Congressional mandate “to identify levels of environmental noise requisite to protect public health and welfare with an adequate margin of safety.” The findings in the task force have since provided the basis for non-occupation- al noise criteria in the USA.
Henning was an active member of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) for 45 years and a Fellow since 1956. He served on the Executive Council and as President in 1979-80. He was the leader in the development of the Society’s Standards Program, chair- ing the S2 Committee on Bioacoustics
and serving as the first ASA Standards Director. For many years he organized and led the United States delegation to ISO TC/43 Technical Committee on Noise, and for 30 years he chaired ISO TC/108 Subcommittee SC4 on human exposure to mechanical shock and vibration. He was past Chairman of the National Research Council Committee on Hearing, Bioacoustics and Biomechanics and was actively involved with several of its working groups. He was past president of the International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise, past Chairman of the American National Standards Institute Acoustical Standards Management Board, a member of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering, and the Aerospace Medical Association.
Henning was an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, received the Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award for outstanding government service twice, and the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award. He received both the ASA Silver Medal in Noise and the Gold Medal, the H. R. Lesser Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Rayleigh Medal from the Institute of Physics (UK).
Henning passed away on 11 March 2007. Kenneth M. Eldred
RECENTLY DECEASED
John K. Cullen, Jr. John Frarey Samuel A. Elder James M. Pickett Robert E. Francois
Passings 45