Honorary Degrees
1918 - Present
 



Arthur Andrews Collins 
Doctor of Science  1970
Status: conferred

Arthur Andrews Collins is a pioneer in electronic communication. His inventions and creative talents have touched the lives and affairs of all men. At the age of twenty-five he designed and constructed the radio transmitters for the famous Byrd expedition to Antarctica. A few years later he made the walkie-talkie possible. This was followed by other important advances in radio communication, including remote and automatic tuning systems, tropospheric scatter communication methods, and single-side-band transmitters and receivers. We fly safely today largely due to Collin-designed and produced equipment for navigation, flight control, and communication. Our space program from Echo I through all of the Apollo flights has depended upon Collins equipment.

Arthur Collins is a singular man; he is chief executive officer of a world-wide company that employs over 24,000 people, yet he continues to contribute to technical developments as a practicing engineer. His inventive talents are now directed toward the problems of automated production, of communication between computers, and of teleproduction.

We are recognizing the many contributions, talents, and achievements of Arthur Collins; but, we are also singling out his qualities of inventiveness, individualism, tirelessness, and courage pioneering as outstanding examples for our students to follow. Southern Methodist University is proud to confer upon Arthur A. Collins the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa.