Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 76
OCR for page 77
WALT ER A . EL M ORE
1925–2010
Elected in 1998
“For advancing protective relaying technology and
providing education in its application.”
BY STAN HOROWITZ
Walt Elmore was recognized as one of the world’s lead-
ing experts in protective relaying, an engineering discipline that
is vital to the safe and economic performance of electric power
systems. His technical achievements are legendary. Walt was
affiliated with the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, which
was later absorbed into ABB Power T&D. He retired in 1996
and died on January 20, 2010, at the age of 84.
Born in Bartlett, Tennessee, on October 2, 1925, Walt was
active in a wide variety of activities. He was a Life Boy Scout
and a navigator in the Army Air Corps during World War II.
Following the war, Walt went to the University of Tennessee
and in 1949 earned a B.S. in electrical engineering. He began
his technical career at Memphis Light, Gas and Water
Division, in the substation design department. In 1951 he
went to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, where he was an
application and consulting engineer for the next 38 years.
Teaching was a large part of Walt’s activities. He participated
in hundreds of customer schools in Newark and later in
Coral Springs. Walt’s unique contribution was recognized by
Westinghouse/ABB in the naming of a Coral Springs office
building in his honor. A protective-relaying textbook, Applied
77
OCR for page 78
78 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
Protective Relaying, which was published by Westinghouse in
1979 and is a standard text for all utility engineers, contains a
half-dozen chapters written by Walt.
Walt taught protective-relaying classes at Texas A&M,
Georgia Tech, Washington State University, and numerous
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Power System
Relaying Committee (IEEE/PSRC) conventions and seminars.
His homespun, no-nonsense approach to the mathematics,
application, and manufacturing details of electromechanical
relays, followed by solid-state and eventually computer
relaying, was essential to understanding the overall value of
power system protection. His outstanding technical abilities
were evidenced in the five patents he was awarded and
the over 50 papers he wrote and presented at international,
national, and regional conferences. Walt’s discussion of
papers presented at the various conferences added value and
substance to this specialized literature.
Walt’s participation in the IEEE/PSRC Power Engineering
Society (PES) is especially noteworthy. He was a life fellow
of the IEEE, past chairman of the Technical Council (the
organization that directs the technical activities of the PES
and past chairman of the IEEE/PES Power System Relaying
Committee. His impact on electric power systems was
worldwide. As a leader of these committees, he influenced
the research and practice of protection, operation, and
control of electric power systems to a degree that cannot be
overemphasized.
Along the way, Walt garnered honors that hardly begin to
describe his impact on electric power. Citations from the IEEE
honors such as IEEE’s Gold Medal for Engineering Excellence,
a PSRC Award for Distinguished Service, Texas A&M’s award
for the most prolific author, and ABB’s dedication of a building
in his honor present only small evidence of Walt’s impact on
the industry and society in general.
I had the pleasure and honor to be a close friend of Walt
and his wife Jane for over 50 years. We met at all the PSRC
meetings and other PES functions. I saw firsthand the impact
Walt had on other engineers during discussions at working
OCR for page 79
WALT ER A . EL M ORE 79
group and subcommittee meetings. He contributed technical,
historical, philosophical, and sensible discussions with
humor that endeared him to all of those present. Knowing
Walt’s background and expertise, all of his comments were
accepted and included in all of the papers and other technical
organization output.
The PSRC had a 50th anniversary during Walt’s tenure
as chairman, and his remarks at a dinner are still recorded
as a milestone event. In addition to this special event, Walt
participated in the technical and social activities of countless
engineering functions. Not content with only technical areas of
interest, Walt was a regular at the Monday morning “Golfing
Subcommittee” meetings played regularly before the serious
business of the PSRC began.
Walt is survived by Jane Huey, his wife of 59 years; his three
daughters—Robin Spicer, Jamie West, and Laura Elmore; six
grandchildren; and two sons-in-law. After Walt’s retirement
from Westinghouse/ABB, he continued to attend technical
meetings and never introduced himself without mentioning
Jane and the family of which he was so proud. He was a giant
of the industry and will be sorely missed.
