Herbert Hacker Jr. *60

Body

Herbert Hacker, a retired associate professor of electrical engineering at Duke University, died of natural causes Dec. 1, 2012, at the age of 82.

During the Korean War, from 1951 to 1953, he served in the Army. Hacker then earned all of his degrees in electrical engineering: a bachelor’s from Ohio University in 1957; a master’s from Princeton in 1960; and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1964. He taught at Duke for more than 27 years, and retired as an associate professor in 1992.

Described by his family as a kind and gentle soul who loved the outdoors, Hacker joined the National Park Service after retiring from Duke. He was a park ranger for five years until 1997, and served on the Blue Ridge Parkway that runs for more than 450 miles in North Carolina and Virginia. His final years were spent visiting national parks throughout the United States until settling down in Dallas, Texas.

Hacker is survived by his former wife, Marjorie Kobel Hacker; three children (including Douglas ’77); and two grandchildren.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.

No responses yet

Join the conversation

Plain text

Full name and Princeton affiliation (if applicable) are required for all published comments. For more information, view our commenting policy. Responses are limited to 500 words for online and 250 words for print consideration.

Paw in print

Image
The cover of PAW’s November 2025 issue, featuring a photo of a space probe and the headline "Made in Princeton."
The Latest Issue

November 2025

NASA’s new IMAP mission, London’s big data detective, AI challenges in the classroom.