Floyd E. Toole studied electrical engineering at the University of New Brunswick and at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London where he received a Ph.D. In 1965 he joined the National Research Council of Canada in the Division of Applied Physics where he reached the position of Senior Research Officer in the Acoustics and Signal Processing Group. In 1991 he joined Harman International Industries Inc. as Corporate Vice President – Acoustical Engineering. In this position he worked with all Harman International companies and created and directed the Harman Research Group, a central resource for acoustical research and technology development relating to the consumer and professional audio industries. He retired in 2007, and remains a consultant to Harman. Dr. Toole’s research has focused on the acoustics and psychoacoustics of sound reproduction, directed to improving engineering measurements, objectives for loudspeaker design and evaluation, and techniques for reducing variability at the loudspeaker/room/listener interface. A measurement technique based on his research in the 1980s and further developed in the Harman research group is now a core component in ANSI/CTA-2034-A (2015). “Standard Method of Measurement for In-Home Loudspeakers”, Consumer Technology Association, Technology and Standards Dept., www.CTA.tech. For his scientific contributions to the audio industry he has been recognized with: • Two Audio Engineering Society (AES) Publications awards (1988, 1990). • The AES Silver Medal award (1996). • The AES Board of Governors Award for service to the society (2003). • CEDIA Lifetime Achievement award (2008). • Beryllium Driver Lifetime Achievement award from ALMA (Association of Loudspeaker Manufacturing & Acoustics International) (2011). • The AES Gold Medal award (2013). • Inducted into the Consumer Technology Association Hall of Fame (2015). • The Peter Barnett Award from the Institute of Acoustics (UK) (2017). He is a Fellow and Past President of the AES, a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America and a Fellow of CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association). In addition to numerous publications in magazines, convention preprints and refereed journals, he has authored a book: “Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms.”, Third Edition, Focal Press, 2017.
