Robert H. Rines died he was 87

Robert H. Rines died he was 87. Rines was an American lawyer, inventor, researcher, and composer. He was also well known for his efforts to find the legendary "Loch Ness Monster."

(August 30, 1922 – November 1, 2009)

Robert Harvey Rines was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He held a Bachelor in Sciences from M.I.T., received a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University in 1946 and did his Ph.D. thesis at National Chiao Tung University in 1972. During World War II, Rines served as a U.S. Army Signal Corps officer and helped develop the Microwave Early Warning System. He held more than 800 patents, and his inventions underlie high-resolution image-scanning radar that was used in the Gulf War, and ultrasound scanning used in the search for the wrecks of the Titanic and the Bismarck. The technology has also been used for ultrasound imaging in the body, and in a 1972 expedition to locate the Loch Ness Monster.

In March 2004, Rines received the Boston Patent Law Association "Lifetime Achievement Award" for his contributions to the field of Intellectual Property. Rines also was inducted as member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1994 and the U.S. Army Signal Corps Wall of Fame. He was also the founder of the Academy of Applied Science, a Massachusetts and New Hampshire based organization dedicated to the promotion of science, technology and inventions, particularly among high school students.

Rines founded the Franklin Pierce Law Center, a private law school located in Concord, New Hampshire. Robert Rines was a lecturer at Harvard University and M.I.T. and served on Technical Advisory Board of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Rines was also an accomplished musician and composer. His musical career started early. His musical ability was demonstrated when, at age eleven, he played a violin duet with Albert Einstein at summer camp in Maine. As a composer he wrote music for both Broadway and off-Broadway shows. Rines composed music for Blast and Bravos, a play on the life of H. L. Mencken. Also composed scores for O'Casey's Drums Under the Windows, O'Neill's Long Voyage Home, Strindberg's Creditors and shared an Emmy Award with playwright Paul Shyre in 1987 for the television and later Broadway play Hizzoner the Mayor.

His philanthropic activities included establishing the GREAT Fund, providing educational grants for a large extended family in perpetuity.

In May 2008, after 45 years of teaching and inspiring students about intellectual property and technology innovation, Rines retired from lecturing at MIT. He died on November 1, 2009.