Magne "Kris" Kristiansen

Magne Kris Kristiansen LUBBOCK-Magne Kris Kristiansen, 85 of Lubbock passed away Tuesday, May 9th, 2017. He was born April 14, 1932, to Ella and Martin Kristiansen in Elverum, Norway. Kris was a loving father, grandfather, great-grandfather, professor, world renowned engineer, mentor and friend. He will be missed by his family and colleges from around the world. Kris leaves to cherish his life his wife of 59 years, Aud Kristiansen; his daughter, Sonja Kristiansen; his son, Eric Kristiansen; his granddaughters, Jillian Johnson and Jaculynn Kristiansen; his grandsons, Kyle Pollard and Chris Pollard; and his great-granddaughter, Natalie Ray. From an extremely humble upbringing in the logging town of Elverum, Norway, Kris joined the Royal Norwegian Airforce in 1950. While in the Airforce Kris meet the love of his life, Aud Bohn, and in 1955 he proposed to her after 10 days of courtship. They were happily married for 59 years up to his death. After serving in the Royal Norwegian Airforce, Aud and Kris decided to move to the United States so that Kris could attend the University of Texas in Austin. After attending the University of Texas in 1967, Kris graduated with a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. His Ph.D. dissertation formed the basis for our current understanding of wave propagation in reactor plasmas and is 50 years later still being cited in technical publications. Upon graduation, Kris took a position as an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at Texas Tech University, and by 1971 Kris had made full Professor in the Electrical Engineering department. Kris was a professor of Electrical Engineering for 47 years until his retirement in 2013 but continued to remain active in the department even after retirement. Kris's initial research at Texas Tech was in the field of fusion reactions, eventually Kris moved into the field of Pulsed Power (the delivery of a large amount of energy in a very short time) where he became world renowned in this field of research. In the field of Pulsed Power Kris became known as the Godfather of Pulsed Power since a vast majority of the researchers in field of Pulsed Power were either students of Kris, students of Kris's students or were colleges that worked with Kris at the Pulsed Power Laboratory at Texas Tech University. During his career, Kris has mentored hundreds of students and young researchers and has served on over 150 M.S Thesis and Ph.D. committees. Kris's students are found in over 15 countries and at nearly every pulsed power research group in the U.S.; the positions held by his former students range from leaders at national laboratories to faculty at renowned institutions. As part of Kris's 47 years at Texas Tech, Kris has authored/coauthored 168 technical papers mostly in the field of Pulsed Power. Kris's work in pulsed power has included work on Railguns, Pulse Forming Networks, Spark Gaps, Surface Flashover, Vircators, Explosive Flux Compression Generators and Surface Flashover Switching. As early leader in the field of pulsed power, Kris organized the first International Pulsed Power Conference in 1976, held in Lubbock, as well as the Second IEEE International Pulsed Power Conference in 1979. Kris's laboratory became the internationally renowned Pulsed Power Laboratory and then in 1998 into the Center for Pulsed Power and Power Electronics at Texas Tech University as his laboratory is known today. The Center, with Kris as the Center Director, was a multimillion dollar per year research operation that is continuing to expand to this day. Kris has also been a Visiting Staff Member of Los Alamos National Laboratory, consultant to NASA, consultant to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, consultant to the Swedish Defense Research Institute, consultant to Lockheed Martin Defense Systems, Member, US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, Member Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Science, just to name a few. During his travels to international conferences Kris has been to every continent with the exception of South America. Kris had always praised his wife, Aud, with her unwavering support through his academic carrier. He has often said he would not have accomplished half of what he had in his life without her by his side. Kris was also very close to his family and often went skiing and scuba diving with his children, grandchildren and wife. Kris had an unbridled passion for life and hard work that has been instilled in his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren that will never be extinguished. His family and friends will never forget him for the spark he has brought into their lives. ..In lieu of flower please donate to the charity of your choice or Hospice of Lubbock which has supported us so wonderfully through this trying time.