David E. Morgan, 56, of Lisle, a vice president and director of technology assessment for Motorola Corp., died Saturday in Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
A native of Terre Haute, Ind., Mr. Morgan had worked for Motorola since 1986. In his early years with the Schaumburg-based company, he worked in research and development.
In 1994, he was promoted to vice president. In that capacity, he was assigned to the media lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked to adapt concepts for use in industrial applications.
“He very much enjoyed interfacing with the university,” said his wife, Judith Morgan. “He enjoyed the technological challenges.”
Before working for Motorola, Mr. Morgan had worked with students. From 1970 to 1980, he was a professor of computer science at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
As a teacher, Mr. Morgan most enjoyed working with graduate students and discussing concepts in small groups, his wife said.
“He was not the kind of professor that enjoyed teaching large freshman classes,” Judith Morgan said.
Mr. Morgan received his doctorate in computer science from the University of Waterloo in 1971, his master’s in mathematics from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1965 and his bachelor’s in mathematics from Rose Polytechnical Institute in Terre Haute, Ind., in 1964.
While a student at Rose Polytechnical, Mr. Morgan worked as a reporter for WTHI radio in Terre Haute. One of his assignments at the station was to interview presidential candidate John F. Kennedy during a campaign stop in Indiana.
Mr. Morgan was “quite impressed with him,” said Judith Morgan. Kennedy “was a master at dealing with the press.”
Also during the 1960s, Mr. Morgan worked for Bell Laboratories for four years. During that time, he worked with researchers to help select the Sea of Tranquility as the site for the first moon landing, his wife said.
Other survivors include two daughters, Heidi and Gwendolen “Wendy” and a half-brother.
Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday in Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home, 44 S. Mill St., Naperville.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday in Trinity Episcopal Church, 130 N. West St., Wheaton.
