Weber was born in Vienna, Austria, on September 6, 1901. He was oldest of five siblings and the son of a homemaker and a railway worker. In 1924, Weber received a degree in Engineering from the Technical University in Austria. Immediately after he began working as a research engineer for the Austrian Siemens-Schuckert Company. Weber attended both the Technical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna concurrently. He studied philosophy, physics, and mathematics, earning his PhD from the University of Vienna in 1926. In 1927, he received his Doctor of Science from the Technical University. His studies of philosophy and engineering remained ingrained in his future work.

Weber's work with the Siemens-Schuckert Company allowed him to move to Berlin. There he taught at the Technical University of Berlin. In 1930, Weber was invited to teach as a visiting lecturer Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (Poly). The rise of Nazism in Europe influenced his decision to accept the position and to relocate to the United States. Weber became a permanent member of the Poly faculty the following year. In 1945, he helped found the Microwave Research Institute (MRI), which would later be renamed as the Weber Research Institute in his honor. This same year he was appointed head of the department of electrical engineering. He was inaugurated as the sixth president of Polytechnic in December of 1957.

A large part of Weber's work and focus while he was president was making the institution financially sustainable. This included many hours devoted to research, as well as tremendous outreach to donors and government officials in both New York City and State. A large portion of his exploration into sustainability focused on mergers with both New York University and the State University of New York. Poly shined during Weber's reign. He was able to apply his interests in philosophy, pedagogy, and engineering to lead the university towards sustainability in the face of financial crisis.

In 1958, he was elected president of the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE). After the merging of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) and the IRE in 1963, Weber became the first president of the combined entity, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In 1964, he helped found the National Academy of Engineers (NAE).

Weber would go on to hold over 50 patents in the field of microwave technology. He was a prolific writer covering fields from electrical engineering, to philosophy, often finding a meeting ground between them in his writings. Following his retirement from Poly, he moved to Columbus, North Carolina, where he passed away on February 16, 1996. He departed in the wake of his insurmountable legacy.

SOURCES Ernst Weber, an oral history conducted in 1991 by Frederik Nebeker, IEEE History Center, Hoboken, NJ, USA.