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GLE N N W. S TAGG
1923–2009
Elected in 1997
“For the development of computer simulation techniques and their
application to the economic planning and operation of power systems.”
BY ARUN PHADKE
GLENN W. STAGG, a pioneer in developing computer
applications in power system engineering, was born on
August 28, 1923, in Brooklyn, New York. He passed away on
August 27, 2009, at the age of 86. To quote his daughter, “Dad
passed away the morning of August 27 (the day before his
86th birthday). He had gone down the street to the Deli for his
morning walk and coffee, came home and was gone.”
Glenn attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) under the G.I. Bill following combat service in the U.S.
Army during World War II. He graduated from MIT in 1946
with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and went to
work for the American Electric Power Service (AEP) the same
year. Later he received an M.B.A. from New York University.
In the years that followed, his name became synonymous
with the application of digital computers to power system
simulation and control.
The most important power system application, requiring
considerable time and effort on the part of power system
engineers, was the “load flow.” This most basic of all
engineering calculations was performed using analog models
of the power system known as “network analyzers.” Because
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300 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
of the physical size of these models, the power systems that
could be studied with them had to be of modest size, and as
interconnected power networks grew in size, the answers
provided by the analog models were not satisfactory. Glenn
Stagg was at the forefront of the development of computer-
based load flow programs that did not suffer from the
many shortcomings of the analog techniques. In 1957 the
first successful large-scale load flow computer program was
completed. The network analyzers were retired soon after the
development of this program.
Other application program developments quickly followed
the success of load flow. Under Glenn Stagg’s leadership as
the head of the computer applications department at the AEP
in New York City, a whole suite of power system applications
programs were developed that remain the foundation of all
computer applications in power system engineering.
The culmination of these developments was the book
Computer Methods in Power System Analysis by Glenn Stagg
and Ahmed El-Abiad (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968). My
first contact with Glenn was around 1964–1965, when I took a
course at Purdue University that was being taught by Glenn
and Dr. El-Abiad. Their book was not yet published; it was
being used as the course textbook but in draft form. The course
was soon moved to the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Although Stagg and El-Abiad are no longer with us, some
version and derivatives of the course they started have been
offered in Madison continuously for more than 40 years.
Along with Professor Reitan of the University of Wisconsin,
I had the good fortune to be asked to review the draft of the
Stagg–El-Abiad book. After its publication, the book was
recognized as groundbreaking in that it brought together in
one place the techniques of power system analysis, computer
algorithm developments, and numerical methods for solving
algebraic and differential equations. The book reigned as the
principal reference on the subject for over 30 years and is still
the only authoritative source on many specialized topics in the
subject.
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GLE N N W. S TAGG 301
Glenn Stagg spotted talent in young colleagues and
coworkers and populated the computer applications
department with young coworkers who became industry
leaders in their own right. As the demand for Glenn’s talent
began to go beyond the environs of the AEP, Glenn formed the
power engineering consulting company (Stagg Systems, Inc.)
in 1970 and remained its president and chief executive officer
until 1992. After his retirement from Stagg Systems in 1992,
he became a consultant to the World Bank and later served as
an energy specialist and an independent consultant to various
power engineering companies throughout the world.
Apart from the Stagg–El-Abiad book, Glenn authored or
coauthored over 30 technical papers on various aspects of
computer applications in electric power engineering that are
among the classics of the genre. Glenn was elected a fellow of
the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1992 and
was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1997.
He received an Honorable Mention Award for Outstanding
Young Electrical Engineer by the honorary society Eta Kappa
Nu in 1957.
Glenn enjoyed art and history and he collected antiques. He
truly enjoyed working on power system engineering problems,
and he enjoyed the opportunities it gave him to do the things
he enjoyed, such as traveling and meeting new and interesting
people. He served during World War II and became a collector
of military memorabilia also. When he was younger, he played
football, and it remained his favorite sport throughout life. He
was a devoted fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers and of the New
York Jets. He enjoyed working on his home and did carpentry
work and landscaping in his spare time. Glenn had a younger
brother Ronald who was a doctor of biology and a professor
at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York. Ronald passed
away several years ago of cancer. Ronald had five children,
who are scattered throughout the United States. Glenn is
survived by his wife, Oksana; his first wife, Eleanor; and their
three daughters, Joan, Janet, and Virginia; two grandsons,
John and Scott; and three granddaughters—Jennie, Janet, and
Katherine.
