Earl Wantland, past President and CEO of Tektronix, was born in Myrtle Point in southwest Oregon. After serving in the US Navy during the Korean War and then briefly attending Portland State University, he took a job in the Test Department at Tektronix on March 24, 1955 working for Earl Scott. He hit it off with his boss immediately showing considerable aptitude for the work. He was especially good at the challenging task of tuning delay lines.
Shortly after Earl Wantland was promoted to a supervisory position, he caught the attention of his supervisors when cathode-ray tube (CRT) quality issues arose in late 1957/early 1958. Tektronix started manufacturing its own CRTs in 1954 after finding the quality and performance of commercially-available tubes wanting. Those manufacturers, primarily Du Mont and RCA, were also leading oscilloscope competitors. Starting a CRT manufacturing capability was a mammoth undertaking and the operation was experiencing ongoing challenges, especially in light of the increasing complexity of the tubes and rising production volumes due to the success of Tek scopes.
In these early days, formal CRT specifications had not been well established. Having the additional responsibility of quality-control, Earl Wantland devised his own, more rigorous CRT acceptance criteria and proceeded to “reject everything” based on multiple deficiencies. Shortly thereafter, he found himself invited to a meeting with no less than Howard Vollum and Jack Murdock, in addition to his boss and the head of the CRT group, Derrol Pennington. Pennington was generally regarded as a hero for leading the tube-development effort. Before entering the conference room Earl Scott advised his 26-year old subordinate: “You got yourself into this; this is your meeting”. Armed with the belief he was doing the right thing and apparently little else, Earl proceeded to persuasively make his case and impress all in attendance. Pennington revised outgoing CRT test procedures based on newly drawn specifications.
The additional result from the meeting later came in an offer for Earl to help manage Tek’s first offshore manufacturing facility. He agreed before even knowing the identity of the place and surprised people again when he actually knew where the Island of Guernsey was located (it’s in the English Channel just off the French coast of Normandy. Earl had done a project about the island for a class in high school. This May 26, 1960 TekTalk article features the Guernsey operation.
Earl was later assigned to be manager of operations at Tektronix second European manufacturing facility in Heerenveen. At the dedication ceremony he gave his opening remarks to the crowd of local governmental and business representatives in fluent Dutch and then proceeded to give the visitors a tour of the facilities. This November 1962 issue of TekTalk photo shows Earl touring the facility.
This April 5, 1963 issue of TekWeek describeds Earl’s promotion to manufacturing manager of both the Guernsey and Heerenveen operations. Don Alvey was appointed marketing manager there also.
This March 26, 1965 TekWeek article features Earl's 10 year anniversary along with six other Tektronix employees.
This May 10, 1968 TekWeek describes Earl's expanded responsibilities to include ceramics and CRT manufacturing along with future integrated circuits.
This June 7, 1968 TekWeek features Jean Vollum recognizing Tektronix female employees with 10 or more years of service.
Earl Wantland was named Tektronix Executive Vice President in February, 1969 and in October, 1971 the Board of Directors elected him President. This October 8, 1971 TekWeek article describes the new organization.
This October 11, 1971 Oregonian newspaper article announces Earl's appointment as President.
This October 4, 1974 TekWeek article announces Earl succeeding Howard Vollum as CEO.
This April 22, 1974 Electronic News article describes Earl's comments on the electronics industry in Russia. Click on the image to view the PDF.
This October 26, 1975 TekWeek article summarizes the recent shareholder meeting and Earl's comments on Tektronix. Click on the image to view the PDF.
This April 11, 1975 TekWeek features Earl's 20th anniversary and the 231st employee to achieve 20 year length of service (LOS).
This December 12, 1975 TekWeek article features a meeting between Howard and Earl with two representatives of the Mini-Tek Junior Achievement group.
This February 20, 1976 TekWeek article features Earl's meeting with Oregon Governor Bob Straub to discuss their innovative Area Rep program.
This June 11, 1976 TekWeek article features Howard and Earl touring Sony Corporation Board Chair, Akio Morita, and his family. Howard and Mr. Morita first met while negotiating the formation of Sony/Tek Corporation.
This January 1979 issue of Industrial Reasearch/Development features an interview with Earl Wantland. Click on the image to view the PDF.
This September 23, 1979 Sunday Oregonian newspaper article summarizes the recent shareholder’s meeting.
This photo of Earl Wantland is undated.
This June 11, 1981 Valley Times newspaper article features an interview with Earl during a recession-caused downturn. Click on the image to view the PDF.
This April 5, 1985 TekWeek article features Earl's 30th anniversary.
This April 26, 1985 TekWeek article features Earl's report on the company for an Area Rep Report. Click on the image to view the PDF.
This August 23, 1985 TekWeek article features Earl's visit to China iopen a local office.
This June 25, 1988 Oregonian newspaper article announces Earl’s plan to retire after 33 years.
This August 5, 1988 TekWeek features some photos from Earl's retirement party. Click on the image to view the PDF.
