John Daniel Kraus (June 28, 1910 – July 18, 2004) was an American physicist and electrical engineer known for his contributions to electromagnetics, radio astronomy, and antenna theory.
[3] Following the completion of his doctorate, Kraus was a member of the research team in nuclear physics at the University of Michigan, helping to design and build the school's new 100-ton cyclotron.
During World War II he worked on degaussing ships for the United States Navy and on radar countermeasures at Harvard University.
[4] After the war, Kraus joined Ohio State University, later becoming the director of the Radio Observatory and McDougal Professor (Emeritus) of Electrical Engineering and Astronomy.
[6] In 1958, while he was at Ohio State, Kraus used the signal of radio station WWV to track the disintegration of Russian satellite Sputnik 1.