Terman was born to Lewis Terman and Anna Belle Minton Terman on June 7, 1900, in Indiana, U.S. His father, Lewis Terman, a psychologist who studied gifted children and popularized the IQ test in America, was a professor at Stanford. His mother, Anna Belle Minton Terman, attended Central Normal College, Danville, Indiana, and taught English at a school nearby. In 1895 she met Lewis M. Terman at the school; the relationship ripened over the following years and they were married Sept. 15, 1899. They then followed Lewis' education at Indiana University and Clark University. At the age of 10, Terman came to Stanford when his father joined the psychology faculty. As a boy, his favorite hobby was ham radio.
During World War II, Terman directed a staff of more than 850 at the Radio Research Laboratory at Harvard University. This organization was the source of Alliedjammers to block enemy radar, tunable receivers to detect radar signals, and aluminum strips to produce spurious reflections on enemy radar receivers. These countermeasures significantly reduced the effectiveness of radar-directed anti-aircraft fire.
After the war Terman returned to Stanford and was appointed dean of the School of Engineering. In 1945 he was influential in the creation of a microwave research laboratory at the Stanford School of Physical Sciences. In 1951 he spearheaded the creation of Stanford Industrial Park, whereby the University leased portions of its land to high-tech firms. Companies such as Varian Associates, Hewlett-Packard, Eastman Kodak, General Electric, and Lockheed Corporation moved into Stanford Industrial Park and made the mid-Peninsula area into a hotbed of innovation which eventually became known as Silicon Valley. He served as Provost at Stanford from 1955 to 1965. During his tenure, Terman greatly expanded the science, statistics and engineering departments in order to win more research grants from the Department of Defense. These grants, in addition to the funds that the patented research generated, helped to catapult Stanford into the ranks of the world's first class educational institutions, as well as spurring the growth of Silicon Valley. Terman's efforts to create a mutual relationship between Stanford and the tech companies in the surrounding area also significantly contributed to this growth. Speaking of this effort, Terman said In 1964, Terman became a founding member of the National Academy of Engineering. In 1966 Terman played a central role in helping the Park Chung-hee Administration establish the Korea Advanced Institute of Science, which later became KAIST. Terman Hall at KAIST was named in his honor in 2004.
Recognition
He was awarded the IRE Medal of Honor in 1950 for "his many contributions to the radio and electronic industry as teacher, author, scientist and administrator".
The Frederick Emmons Terman Engineering Scholastic Award is presented to the students that rank academically in the top five percent of the graduating senior class from the Stanford University School of Engineering.
Stanford's Frederick Emmons Terman Engineering Center was named in his honor.
Terman Middle School, in Palo Alto, California and the adjacent Terman Park were named after Terman and his father. In 2018, the Palo Alto Unified School District school board unanimously decided to rename the school in honor of Ellen Fletcher after Terman's father involvement with the eugenics movement came to the notice of parents and the school board. At the time of the renaming of the middle school, the city of Palo Alto had yet to decide if they would also rename the adjacent park.
A section of U.S. Route 101 in California near Palo Alto is officially designated and signed as the Frederick E. Terman Memorial Highway.
