Instrumental in the development of photolithography — critical in the first efforts to produce semiconductor integrated circuits — Lathrop is recognized as a pioneering figure in microminiaturization of solid-state circuits.
Born in Bangor, Maine, Lathrop grew up just a few miles north of Bangor, in Orono. He attended two semesters at the University of Maine to take Analytical Geometry, which was a requirement to enter the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Physics, and then his Ph.D., also in Physics in 1952, all from MIT.
He then joined the National Bureau of Standards/Harry Diamond Laboratories, where he worked on the microminiaturization of solid-state circuits for the U.S. Department of Defense. Lathrop was awarded the Department of the Army Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 1959 for this work. In 1958 he joined Texas Instruments (TI) in Dallas, Texas, where he continued his work on miniaturization of integrated circuits. He worked with, among others, Jack Kilby, primarily as a member of TI's Research and Development Lab.
Lathrop joined the faculty of Clemson University in 1968 as a Professor of Electrical Engineering, where he was instrumental in establishing a well-respected semiconductor engineering curriculum. During the 1970s he oversaw students' research into the characteristics of solar cells and co-invented the solar chemical converter system of energy conversion. He and the EE department at Clemson University also worked on joint projects with the Semiconductor Research Corporation. Lathrop retired from Clemson in 1989.
He is a Fellow of IEEE and has served as a consultant on solar energy and reliability.
