The 2005 Laureates / Advanced Technology Category / Electronics
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George H. Heilmeier

U.S.A. / May 22, 1936
Electronics Engineer; Chairman Emeritus, Telcordia Technologies, Inc.

"Pioneering contribution to the realization of flat-panel displays using liquid crystals"
In the 1960s, when a "wall-hung TV" was still a dream for the distant future, Dr. Heilmeier felt the challenge to produce flat-panel displays by utilizing the unique properties of liquid crystals. He made pioneering contributions to today's dramatic technological progress by fabricating and demonstrating the first prototypes of liquid crystal flat-panel displays.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
1936
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
1958
University of Pennsylvania, B.S. (Electrical Engineering)
1962
Princeton University, Ph.D. (Electronics)
1958-1966
Technical Staff, RCA Laboratories
1966-1969
Director of Solid State Device Research, RCA Laboratories
1969-1970
Director of Device Concept, RCA Laboratories
1970-1971
White House Fellow; Special Assistant to Secretary of Defense
1971-1974
Assistant Director of Defense Research & Engineering, Department of Defense
1974-1977
Director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
1977-1983
Vice President, Texas Instruments Inc.
1983-1991
Senior Vice President and CTO, Texas Instruments Inc.
1991-1996
President and CEO, Bell Communications Research Inc.
1996-1997
Chairman and CEO, Bell Communications Research Inc.
1997-present
Chairman Emeritus, Telcordia Technologies, Inc.

SELECTED AWARDS AND HONORS
1976
David Sarnoff Award, IEEE
1990
C&C Prize, NEC
1991
President's National Medal of Science, U.S.A.
1992
National Academy of Engineering Founders Award, U.S.A.
1996
John Scott Award for Scientific Achievements, City of Philadelphia
1997
Medal of Honor, IEEE
1999
John Fritz Award, American Association of Engineering Societies
Members:
National Academy of Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and IEEE Fellow

SELECTED WORKS
1966
Possible Ferroelectric Effects in Liquid Crystals and Related Liquids (Williams, R. and Heilmeier, G. H.), Journal of Chemical Physics 44: 638.
1968
Dynamic Scattering: A New Electrooptic Effect in Certain Classes of Nematic Liquid Crystals (with Zanoni, L. A. and Barton, L. A.), Proceedings of the IEEE 56: 1162.
1970
Liquid Crystal Display Devices, Scientific American 222: 100.
1976
Liquid Crystal Displays: An Experiment in Interdisciplinary Research that Worked, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices ED-23: 780.
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