Victor John Andrew

Victor “Doc” John Andrew (August 31, 1902 - October 30, 1971) was an electrical engineer and the founder of Andrew Corporation, a world-leading telecommunications manufacturing company previously located in Orland Park, Illinois.

Early life Victor J. Andrew (originally named John Victor Andrew), was born to parents Irving Andrew and Ruby Perkins Andrew in a family farmhouse in Medina County, Ohio. He entered school at the age of six and continued for four years; the last two years being failures to pass the third grade. His mother then took him out of school and educated him herself. She had worked as a schoolteacher in a one-room schoolhouse for eight years before marrying her husband, Irving.

Higher education, employment, and the Great Depression Andrew began his higher education at the College of Wooster. He developed interest in the fields of mathematics, physics, and economics. From 1923 to 1924 he served as chief engineer of the WABW radio station owned by the college. Since he had already taken all of the math and science courses offered by the College of Wooster, he conducted research in association with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. on radio wave propagation. This didn't last long though, as he was let go after the stock market crash on October 29, 1929. Given the opportunity to continue his studies, the couple moved back to Chicago so he would be able to pursue his PhD at the University of Chicago.

After graduating with a PhD in physics in 1932, he began to look for new work. However, he lost two other jobs by 1934 due to the Great Depression. Even though his hope was diminishing he began to work at Doolittle Radio Inc. With his position undefined, and the company rapidly declining, he searched for a way for the company to make more money. After finding the inventions of his predecessors going untouched, he eventually became a salesman, selling these designs. After roughly about two years he resigned and enrolled in various business courses to prepare for launching his own venture.

Andrew Corporation

After leaving his position at Doolittle Radio Inc., Andrew started up the Andrew Company out of the basement of his rented home on January 1, 1937. This was illegal due to zoning laws, but law enforcement often didn't enforce these laws. Andrew Corporation started as both a manufacturing and engineering consulting company. However, with the WWII ban on new station construction not much consulting was needed, so the Andrew Corporation quickly shifted their focus to manufacturing. Manufacturing for the U.S. military helped the corporation grow in ways it never had when its sole customer base was civilian.

In 1977, Victor J. Andrew High School in Tinley Park was named after him with the logo being the Thunderbolts to commemorate Andrew Corporation.

Andrew Corporation became a publicly traded company in 1981. In 2007 the Andrew Corporation. was bought out by CommScope for 2.6 billion dollars.