David Allen Landgrebe

April 12, 1934 - November 21, 2020

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David Allen Landgrebe passed away November 21, 2020. He leaves behind friends, colleagues, and family who will miss his love, intellect, and humor. He was born and raised in Huntingburg, Indiana by parents Albert and Sarah Landgrebe with his brother John, who is also deceased. After graduating from Huntingburg High School in 1952, he went to Purdue University where he earned his BS, MS, and PhD degrees and where he spent his career teaching and doing research in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). He served as Department Head of ECE and as Associate Dean of Engineering.

Dave married his wife Margaret Ann in 1959, and they were inseparable for 56 years until her death in 2016. They are survived by daughters Carole of Cincinnati, Mary of Norfolk, Virginia and by son J.D. and his wife Sue of Cincinnati. Dave will be remembered by his family for his loyalty and love and as someone who was a teacher to many, always kept the focus on doing the right thing, and insisted on helping others. Dave’s work ethic, which began in his childhood working in his family’s clothing store, built foundations on which others could stand and grow. Dave’s example lives on to influence his grandson Chris Landgrebe, his granddaughter, Katie Marshall, her husband Colin, and their baby daughter Fox Lara.

Dave’s career at Purdue was a distinguished one. He led pioneering research in the field of remote sensing. This built understanding of how to analyze the earth from space and was a foundation of NASA’s ongoing Landsat program where the legacy of Dave’s research is still influential today. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) lifetime achievement award is named after Dave in the field of Geoscience and Remote Sensing. At Purdue, Dave was a collaborator and leader. He directed a lab that grew to more than 120 people and which brought together researchers from fields as diverse as geology and forestry. He authored several books and received numerous awards and accolades including NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal. At the time of his death, he was one of 22 current and retired Purdue faculty who had been inducted into the National Academy of Engineering. These honors were grounded in authoring hundreds of scientific journal articles and mentoring dozens of students to their PhDs – launching them into their own distinguished careers that ranged from professor to groundbreaking engineer to even diplomat and foreign minister of their country. Dave was especially proud of the recognitions he received for excellence in teaching Electrical Engineering to undergraduate students. These came in the form of multiple “best teacher” awards from his ECE department and from Purdue Engineering as a whole.

Dave loved the community of the Lafayette Rotary Club where he served in several positions, including Treasurer. In later years, Dave enjoyed the community at University Place where he and Ann lived in West Lafayette. Dave was active in Faith Presbyterian Church.

Memorial donations may be made to Faith Presbyterian Church, 3318 IN-26, West Lafayette, IN 47906.

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I first came to know of the name David Landgrebe while I was a graduate student at Caltech and the members of my Ph.D committee found out I would be interviewing at Purdue. One of my committee members asked, “who are the best faculty members at Purdue?”, and among my committee members, one name was put forward: Dave Landgrebe. When I became an assistant professor at Purdue, I was fortunate to be assigned an office two doors down from Dave. Dave was a fantastic mentor, colleague and friend, and we often discussed approaches to teaching probability and ideas in statistical pattern recognition. I also had the good fortune of serving on many of Dave’s Ph.D students’ committees, where I was able to witness what it meant to be a great Ph.D advisor. I also got to witness first-hand how Dave cared for his students. I was always puzzled that Purdue never recognized Dave with a Distinguished or chaired professorship. I was very pleased when Dave was elected into the National Academy of Engineering, as it showed how highly his work was valued in his research community. He certainly deserved it. If ever there was a Distinguished Professor in Purdue ECE, it was David Landgrebe. He was also a great faculty colleague.

I wish to express my condolences to the Landgrebe family for there loss. Dave was a really special individual. As a NASA employee for many years at Goddard Space Flight Center and the Landsat 4 and 5 Project Scientist, I was well aware of and admired and respected the accomplishments and influence of Dave (Prof. Landgrebe). I was also active for quite a while in the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing society (IEEE-GRS) and he was kind and gracious to do the write-up that led to my being elected an IEEE Fellow. To me that was a great reward and I am endebted to Dave for that. He will be missed but always admired for his wonderful professional and personal qualities.

I was sorry to see Dave's obituary in last newspaper. As a dinner partner here at University Place, Dave's stories of his early days in Huntingburg and the family shoe store were of legend. Dinner partners were in awe of Dave's stories. My ultimate dinner guest with Dave were Marion and Marilee Baumgartner. Dinner stories were a great mix of Marion's West Texan youth and Dave's shoe stories. Two distinguished gentlemen with great careers. Dave will always be remembered for leading the NASA's Landsat development program for remote sensing. It was a privilege to have known this fine gentleman. My Sympathy and Prayers for the Family. Richard Connell

Throughout my twenty-one years as pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church, I valued and admired Prof. Landgrebe for his gentle, faithful way of living the Christian life, of service to the congregation, and support for my ministry. He left no hint of being impressed at his own successes, seeing what we would call his accomplishments as merely the result of how living faithfully comes out. He was a loving husband, a proud father, and to me and us, a fellow participant in life, and in particular, a fellow disciple of Jesus Christ. He will remain in my memory as one of the most gracious ornaments of the Church I have been blessed to know, and to be his pastor. stuart robertson

I first met Dave in April 1994 when I interviewed at Purdue and became colleagues thereafter for several years in the school of ECE at Purdue until his retirement. He was always very kind to me and everyone around him. We were all the better for having known him. My deepest condolences to the Langrebe family. May he Rest In Peace.

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