Ken Skrivseth

by | Apr 17, 2023

Ken Skrivseth

Ken first visited the Museum not long after it opened and enjoyed it very much.  Prior to that he attended a meeting of the Radio History Society somewhere in Washington DC.  He first became an active volunteer in 2013 after learning of a membership discount for MAARC members.  He has been a docent and occasional helper with rounding up donations and moving items to or between storage lockers.  He was Treasurer for a year or so.  Ken also volunteers on two investment committees in his hometown, Laurel Maryland.

Ken holds a couple of Master’s degrees (Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science) and completed course work toward a PHD in 1973, electing not to write a dissertation.  He was an officer in the US Army and in 1971 he spent the better part of a year in Nha Trang Viet Nam and became Chief Radio Officer in the 21st Signal Group.

Ken worked as a Radar Systems Engineer and a Project Manager at The Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel MD for 27 years and another 15 years doing similar work for “Beltway Bandits,” finally retiring completely in 2015. He was involved with 6 or 7 different US Navy radar systems in that time, especially the AN/SPS-48 series of surveillance radars, that is still in the fleet on most aircraft carriers and large amphibious landing ships.

His hobbies include collecting old radios (but rarely fixing them!), technology, watching old movies, personal investing, travelling, hiking, home carpentry, and going out to eat. A few of these have been impaired somewhat by a soft tissue sarcoma discovered in 2021 but he feels just fine.