Skip to main content

DeVry Technical Institute

Fig. 1

The DeVry Institute envelope Bill received that encouraged him to apply DeVry Institute. The envelope highlights DeVry’s educational focus on electronics and television maintenance.

DeVry Technical Institute provided just what Bill needed to pursue higher education. Unlike other schools, DeVry offered an evening Laboratory Training program. The program was more affordable, and more importantly, allowed students who were financially in need to find part-time jobs while in school. As a technical school, DeVry’s academic focus on electronic technology and engineering also created an outlet for Bill to continue growing and applying the skills he learned in the high school math and science classes that he had loved.

To pay for the expenses of attending, Bill and his mother agreed that if he paid for his room and board, she would cover his tuition. Bill also received help from his aunt, who paid for the tuition of his second year when his mother could no longer afford the expense. Bill covered room and board by working during the day, first as an ice cream salesman and then in a corporate mailroom.

When Bill enrolled at DeVry Technical Institute in 1959, the technology world was on the brink of an explosion in innovation and discovery. Bill remembers those years as an exciting time for an aspiring engineer, noting “electronics [were] becoming a big deal…Kennedy decided they were going to put a man on the moon.”

  • Fig. 2

    A 1966 advertisment booklet discussing the programs offered at DeVry Institute and how the programs could lead to jobs in the space and missile programs of the time

  • Fig. 3

    DeVry Institute's advertisement booklet highlighting how graduates find jobs in computer developent and the predicted job stability in this field

‹›

Bill attended DeVry Technical Institute from February 2nd, 1959 to December 16th, 1960. He enrolled in the Electronics Engineering Technology program which offered courses that covered a wide range of technology. The program consisted of 8 to 9 12-week quarters and primarily focused on electronic circuits found in television receivers, radar systems, computers, servo-mechanisms, guided missiles, satellite instrumentation, and automation systems. A handful of classes in physics, drafting, technical English, report writing, management, and mathematics were also required to help advance him in his career field.

As Bill progressed through the Laboratory Training program, he started to narrow down the specific areas of math and science that interested him. In the field of circuits, converters, radio components, TV components, and more, Bill took an interest in a relatively obscure type of technology: transistors. Although only a small part of Bill’s classwork focused on transistors, he was fascinated with them.

As graduation drew closer, Bill decided to prioritize jobs in commercial organizations, rather than in the military. He noticed that military industries seemed to face more layoffs than the commercial industry. Two months before graduating, Bill got married. With a family to support, Bill wanted the most stable job that he could find. He also knew that a commercial job would allow him to work with transistors, while a military contractor job would focus on the transistor’s non-solid state counterpart, the vacuum tube.

  • Fig. 4

    Bill’s lesson book from a class about transistors. The book’s introduction emphasized the novelty of transistor technology, explaining that “the only practical amplifying device for many years was the electron tube… However, this time has passed. Although the electron tube is still superior for many applications, several other amplifying devices have been developed… One of these devices is called a transistor.”

  • Fig. 5

    Graphs Bill drew as part of a lesson on transistors

  • Fig. 6

    Diagrams used in a lesson on transistor circuits with Bill’s notes and additions in the margins

‹›

With these ideas in mind, Bill began interviewing for jobs. In an Intel alumni interview with Rachel Stewart, Bill shared that for the top DeVry students:

"...The number one [places] to go to work were Sandia Corporation [now known as Sandia National Laboratories], [Northwest Airlines], and Bell Telephone Labs.”

Bill interviewed for jobs at Sandia, Northwest Airlines, and Bell. Receiving job offers from Bell and Northwest, Bill accepted the offer from Bell Telephone Labs. On December 16th, 1960, Bill graduated from DeVry Technical Institute with an Associates Degree in Electronic Engineering. During his professional career, Bill hired other DeVry alumni. He maintained a respect for the school’s rigorous academic program and for the way it prepared him for the computer industry.

  • Fig. 7

    Part of DeVry Institute's promotional materials from the mid-1960s advertising potential employers for graduates. In the above photo, an alum of DeVry Institute is shown working as an employee at the national security contractor Sandia National Laboratories.

  • Fig. 8

    Part of DeVry Institute's promotional materials from the mid-1960s advertising potential employers for graduates. In the above photo, an alum of DeVry Institute is shown working on a computer drive at Honeywell

‹›

Return to Exhibit Homepage

DeVry Technical Institute