Terahertz pioneers: A series of interviews with significant contributors to terahertz science and technology

As a tribute to individuals who have contributed significantly, and over many years, to the terahertz community, and as a guide and inspiration for those who are just beginning their professional association with this field of study, this TRANSACTIONS will continue to include, on a regular basis, a series of biographical interviews with technical researchers who have appreciably impacted the THz community in a positive manner. In order to go beyond a strict technical review and to take better advantage of the information and commentary only available through a direct discussion, these articles will take on a less formal style than the research articles that can be found within the remaining pages of the transactions. The Editor-in-Chief (EiC) hopes that he may be given some leeway in this regard, for the benefit of communicating more fully the character, experiences, and historic circumstances that have shaped our community and set the directions for our collective research. The EiC, with the support of the IEEE MTT Publications Committee, has chosen to incorporate these biographical articles within the more formal technical journal because of the diversity of disciplines that make up the THz community and the prior absence of a single unifying publication with sufficient outreach to extend across the whole of the RF and optical THz disciplines. The EiC hopes you will enjoy the short diversion of reading these articles as much as he himself enjoys the process of composing them. As the fourth article in this series, we are very fortunate to have the chance to hear, and to learn from THz Pioneer, noted radio astronomer, and Nobel Laureate, Dr. Robert W. Wilson. Dr. Wilson can be credited with two of the discoveries that have paved the way for much of THz astronomy - the identification of the Cosmic Microwave Background and the first measurement of carbon monoxide in the interstellar medium. Considering the vast amounts of scientific effort and resources that have followed both of these discoveries, many people, including this EiC, owe their careers to Robert Woodrow Wilson and his pioneering experiments that are the foundations of Terahertz Radio Science and Technology.