Derald O. Cummings received his B.S. in Engineering Science (1963), M.S. (1965), and Ph.D. (1972) in Electrical Engineering; all from Penn State. During this time, he and Barbara Yaw Cummings had four children, all of whom have graduated from Penn State: Heather (ESC ’87), Eric (ESC ’89), Sarah (LA ’92), and Laura (SCI ’94). Heather, Eric, and Laura are married to Penn State graduates. Mr. and Mrs. Cummings have eight grandchildren (future Penn Staters!) who bring much joy.

Mr. Cummings (usually called DOC, because of his initials) was a Little League Baseball Coach, Boalsburg Troop 380 Scoutmaster, and member of the Harris Township Water Authority. He has worked at C-COR Electronics and Locus, Inc/Kaman for much of his career as a Staff Engineer and Staff Scientist in commercial radio frequency (RF) and military microwave communications. Mr. Cummings was involved with numerous small company startups and mentoring younger engineers. He taught part time at Penn State in ESC and EE throughout the 1980s and was a full time Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at PSU from 1991 to 1997. Since then, he has been a Consultant for RF/microwave and optical communication devices, equipment, and systems, and continues to mentor young engineers. Mr. Cummings is currently a Principal Engineer for C-COR, Inc. in State College, PA.

NOTE: Two of our Centennial Fellows are spotlighted each week.