Dr. Msp Lucas

Dr. Michael S. P. Lucas died peacefully at the Good Shepherd Hospice in Manhattan, KS on 21st September 2024.

He was born 3rd June 1929 in Chapel St. Leonards, Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom, the son of Stephen and Dorothy Lucas.

He trained as an engineer with the Post Office and the British Army Royal Signal Corps. A keen cyclist, he cycled widely throughout the UK and later in Europe while serving in the Army. He met his wife Marie while cycling in Lincolnshire.

In 1954 he and Marie married in Skegness, Lincolnshire. In 1954 they moved to Venezuela where Michael was employed as an engineer by the national telephone company. Their son Mark was born in Maracaibo in 1955. In 1957 he accepted a position as an engineer with GTE in Durham, North Carolina where the twins Christopher and Gail were born in 1958. He began part-time studies in Electrical Engineering at Duke University in 1958 and went on to obtain a PhD in Electrical Engineering in 1964.

He returned to the UK with his family in 1964 and accepted a government research position in Christchurch, Hampshire. It was there that he developed his interest in sailboat racing. In 1967 he returned to academia as a lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh before taking up a teaching position as professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.

During his time teaching at KSU he acted as advisor to students on their careers after graduation, many of whom kept in touch with him for the rest of his life. While at KSU he took sabbaticals with his family in New Zealand, Mexico and Switzerland. He remained at KSU until retiring in 1995.

He was a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and was actively involved in the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement (I&M) Society and its activities. He was president of the I&M society for the years 1990-1991.

During his time in Manhattan he maintained his interest in sailing and built several types of wooden sailing dinghies. After retirement he and Marie travelled extensively in Europe. He cared for Marie who had a debilitating illness during the last 10 years of her life until she passed away in 2012. His daughter Gail died in 2019.

He was cared for at home by his son Christopher for the last 8 years of his life. Michael Lucas is survived by sons Christopher (Manhattan, KS) and Mark and his wife Ann (Cork, Ireland), granddaughters Jane Lucas (London, England) and Julia Zeak (Dallas, Texas), and brother Robin Lucas (Newport, Wales).