Paul Michael Ebert

Paul M. Ebert was born in Madison WI on December 30, 1935 and raised in Watertown WI. He graduated University of Wisconsin Madison in 1958 with his undergraduate degree and completed his graduate degrees in 1962 and 1965 in MIT in Cambridge Massachusetts. He also lived in Redbank New Jersey and for the last 50 plus years in the Washington DC area. He died on September 24, 2024, after a short battle with COVID.

He is survived by his son Gary, his daughter-in-law Christina, his siblings Charles, David and Mary (Molly), his close friend Jennette McCarthy, his sisters and brothers in law Ann, Marketa and Charlie and his nieces and nephews Bob, Patti, Briana and Stephen. He was preceded in death by his wife, Jenny G S Ebert on May 15, 2019. He has also left behind many friends and extended family members.

He was a highly skilled engineer, an accomplished musician, loving husband, sibling and uncle and a father.

Paul M. Ebert was far from a household name; however, his work continues to touch the lives of millions of people (probably even billions). He is credited as one of the pioneers of OFDM which is the wave form used in WiFi, and in 4G/LTE and 5G cellphone networks. He did crucial early work on BCAS/TCAS which is the anti mid air collision system used in most worldwide commercial aircraft. He also was the project engineer for Geostar (which later became MTS) which is a satellite-based communications and tracking system used to track the logistic assets of the US Army. He was most proud of the work he did on BCAS.

He was obsessed with understanding. He would solve a problem and didn’t necessarily care to see the idea to completion – he just wanted to move on to the next interesting, to him, problem. Learning for learnings sake was far more important to him that acknowledgments of his accomplishments.

He didn’t seek the spotlight; however, he would have wanted you to appreciate the efforts of all the people who worked on these systems who, like him, did not seek the spotlight.

Every time you step onto a commercial airline, use your cell phone or you have a friend or family member of the armed forces saved because the US Army arrived at the right spot at the right time with the right equipment, please think of him and the other nameless engineers who made these things possible.

A memorial service will be held at Joseph Gawler’s Sons on November 2, 2024 at 1:30 PM with reception to follow. Live streaming will be available at JosephGawlers.com. In lieu of flowers please make a donation in his name to The Alzheimer's Association.