Lin was born Aug. 8, 1919, in Shanghai and graduated in 1941 from Shanghai's Chiao Tung University, which he attended on a tennis scholarship. He was an engineer for Chinese radio and broadcasting companies before coming to the United States in 1947. He received a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1948 and a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (now part of New York University) in 1956.

Lin was a research engineer for RCA, CBS and Westinghouse before joining the faculty of the University of Maryland in 1969. He held more than 60 U.S. patents and made many advances in semiconductor and integrated circuit technology. He invented circuitry that is used in everything from electronic thermometers to cordless microphones.

In 1950, not long after leaving his native China, Dr. Lin became one of the first scientists at RCA's laboratories in New Jersey to work on the development of transistor circuits. Among engineers, he was better known for his invention of the lateral transistor, a crucial component in the "level shifter," a key part of every solid-state amplifier found in modern audio systems. He also invented the output driver, or the circuit that controls the production of sound in stereo speakers.

For his invention of the lateral transistor, now universally used in integrated circuits, he received the 1978 J.J. Ebers Award of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers His other inventions included the "active noise cancellation" circuits that allowed for the development of noise-canceling headphones and other popular electronic devices.

Dr. Lin wrote hundreds of scientific papers, and his book "Integrated Electronics," first published in 1967, is a standard textbook in the field. He was the co-author of three other books and was elected a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

In 21 years as a full-time professor at the University of Maryland, he missed only one class. He supervised 26 PhD students, many of whom have become international leaders in engineering, circuitry design and microelectronics.

In 1990, Dr. Lin was inducted into the Innovation Hall of Fame at the university's Clark School of Engineering. He retired in 1990.

Outside his professional work, Dr. Lin enjoyed tennis and dancing.

Hung C. "Jimmy" Lin died March 5, 2009 of lung cancer. (Source: Matt Schudel, Washington Post, Mar 29, 2009).