Jack Munushian, 81; Physicist Helped Build USC Engineering School

Jack Munushian, 81, a physicist and educator instrumental in developing the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, died May 28 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles of heart failure.

A Rochester, N.Y., native who held physics degrees from the University of Rochester and UC Berkeley, Munushian joined the USC engineering faculty in 1957 as a part-time lecturer while working at Hughes Aircraft Co. and Aerospace Corp. Although he became a full-time professor in 1967, his experience fueled a determination to make advanced education available to engineers without disrupting their careers.

In 1972, he launched Instructional Television Network to beam graduate lectures directly from USC to specially equipped classrooms in aerospace company offices and factories throughout Southern California. The concept earned Munushian the Major Educational Innovation Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1988.

Munushian also brought USC into the Joint Services Electronics Program, a major research effort funded by the Army, Navy and Air Force that helped establish the importance of USC engineering research.

Although computers were not his field, Munushian organized USC’s department of computer science and served as its founding chairman from 1972 to 1976.