Rossing is the editor of the Springer Handbook of Acoustics, and the co-author of The Physics of Musical Instruments, Light Science, Principles of Vibration and Sound and the forthcoming Physics of Stringed Instruments.
After receiving his PhD in physics in 1954 at Iowa State University, Rossing began his professional career with the UNIVAC division of Sperry Rand, where he did research on magnetic materials and applications to computer memories. Since 1971 he has been a professor of physics at Northern Illinois University. He was named distinguished Research Professor in 1987, and Professor Emeritus in 2002. He is presently a Visiting Professor of Music at Stanford University.
He is the author of more than 350 publications mainly in acoustics, magnetism, environmental noise control, and physics education. His areas of research have included musical acoustics, psychoacoustics, speech and singing, vibration analysis, magnetic levitation, surface effects in fusion reactors, spin waves in metals, and physics education.
The Acoustical Society of America ( http://asa.aip.org ) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. The prestigious Gold Medal is presented annually to an individual whose contributions to the field of acoustics and to the Acoustical Society have been unusually distinguished.