Charles Susskind, 82; Bioengineering Expert, Professor at UC Berkeley

Charles Susskind, 82, a co-founder of bioengineering studies at UC Berkeley, died June 15 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at his home in Berkeley.

Early in his academic career Susskind did research into microwaves, looking at how they are formed and transmitted.

He later explored the interaction between microwaves and biological tissue, and wrote or co-wrote a number of books about his findings, including “Fundamentals of Microwave Electronics” (1964) and “Electricity and Medicine: History of Their Interaction” (1984).

Born in Prague, Susskind escaped to England just before the start of World War II, and served with the U.S. Army Air Forces as a radar specialist during the war. He then moved to the United States and eventually became a citizen.

He received his doctorate in electrical engineering from Yale University in 1951 and taught at Stanford University for four years before moving to UC Berkeley. Susskind was the assistant dean of UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering from 1964 to 1968.

From there, he worked in the office of the president of the University of California system, coordinating academic affairs for all UC campuses. He returned to the Berkeley faculty in 1974, where he remained until retiring in 1991. Aside from science, Susskind had a passion for classical music and played the cello.