George E. Smith

Biography

Abstract

George E. Smith is a Nobel laureate and expert in semiconductor technology. Along with Willard Boyle, George E. Smith invented the charge-coupled device (CCD) in 1969. His institutional affiliations include Bell Laboratories and University of Chicago.

Important Dates

May 10, 1930Birth, White Plains (N.Y.).

1955Obtained BS, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Pa.).

1956Obtained MS, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).

1959Obtained PhD, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).

1959 – 1984Member, Technical Staff (1959-1986) and Head, Device Concepts Group (1964-1984), Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill (N.J.).

1973Awarded the Ballantine Medal, Franklin Institute..

1974Awarded Morris N. Liebman Award, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

1983Member, National Academy of Engineering.

1984 – 1986Head, Device Concepts Group, AT & T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill (N.J.).

1986Awarded the Progress Medal of the Photographic Society of America.

1997Awarded the Electron Devices Society Distinguished Service Award, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

2001Awarded the Edwin Land Medal, Optical Society of America.

2006Awarded the Charles Stark Draper Prize, National Academy of Engineering.

2009Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics with Willard S. Boyle and Charles K. Kao "for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit - the CCD sensor".

Occupation

Solid state electronics engineer.

Places

Birth

White Plains (N.Y.)

Undergraduate Education

Philadelphia (Pa.)

Graduate Education

Chicago (Ill.)

Employment

Murray Hill (N.J.)

Subjects

Charge coupled devices.

Integrated circuits.

Optoelectronics.

Semiconductors.

Solid state physics.

Relationships

People

Advisors & Collaborators

Boyle, Willard S., 1924-2011

Co-invented the charge-coupled device (CCD), shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit - the CCD sensor," and both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Lawson, Andrew Werner

Ph.D Advisor, University of Chicago.

Colleagues

Aeppli, Gabriel

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Ahlers, G. (Günter)

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Alivisatos, P.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Anderson, P. W. (Philip W.), 1923-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Appelbaum, J. A. (Joel A.)

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Ashkin, Arthur, 1922-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Aspnes, D. E.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Birgeneau, Robert J. (Robert Joseph), 1942-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Bishop, David John, 1951-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Bode, Hendrik W. (Hendrik Wade), 1905-1982

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Brattain, Walter H. (Walter Houser), 1902-1987

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Brinkman, William F. (William Frank), 1938-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Buchsbaum, Solomon J.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Bucksbaum, Philip H.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Cava, Robert J.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Chabal, Yves Jean, 1952-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Chemla, D. S.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Chu, Ching-wu, 1941-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Chu, Steven

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Chynoweth, A. G.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Clogston, Albert McCavour

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Coppersmith, Susan Nan

Both employed at AT & T Bell Laboratories.

Cutler, Cassius Chapin

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Darlington, Sidney, 1906-1997

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

David, Edward E.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

DiSalvo, Francis

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Dolan, Gerald

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Dynes, Robert C.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Eigler, Donald

Both employed at AT & T Bell Laboratories.

Eisenstein, James P. (James Philip)

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Feher, George, 1924-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Fisk, James B. (James Brown), 1910-1981

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Fleury, Paul A.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Fulton, Theodore Alan

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Galt, John Kirtland, 1920-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Geballe, Theodore H.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Gossard, A. C.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Greene, Laura H.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Hagstrum, Homer D.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Haldane, F. Duncan M.

Both employed at AT & T Bell Laboratories.

Halperin, Bertrand I.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Hamann, Donald, 1939-

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Hellman, Frances

Both employed at AT & T Bell Laboratories.

Herring, William Conyers, 1914-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Hohenberg, Pierre C.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Hopfield, John J.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Jackson, Shirley Ann, 1946-

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Javan, Ali, 1926-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Johnson, Peter D., 1952-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Kelly, Mervin Joe

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Kompfner, Rudolf, 1909-1977

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Lander, James J., 1914-1996

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Laughlin, Robert B.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Lax, Melvin J.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Lee, P. A. (Patrick A.), 1946-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Libchaber, Albert J.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Matthias, Bernd T., 1918-1980

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

McMillan, William L.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Millis, Andrew J.

Both employed at AT & T Bell Laboratories.

Murray, Cherry Ann

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Narath, Albert, 1933-

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Osheroff, Douglas D.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Patel, C. Kumar N.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Pearson, Gerald L. (Gerald Leondus)

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Penzias, Arno A.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Pfann, William G.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Phillips, J. C.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Phillips, Julia M.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Pinczuk, Aron

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Raghavachari, Krishnan

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Raney, William P.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Rice, Thomas Maurice, 1939-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Richards, Paul L. (Paul Linford)

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Rowell, John Martin, 1935-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Sarachik, Myriam P.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Schawlow, Arthur L., 1921-1999

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Shank, C. V. (Charles V.)

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Smith, Neville, 1942-2006

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Stillinger, F. H.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Störmer, Horst

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Suhl, Harry

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Tank, David William, 1953-

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Tauc, J. (Jan)

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Tersoff, J.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Thomas, D. G. (David Gilbert), 1928-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Tsui, D. C. (Daniel Chee), 1939-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Weeks, John David

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Wilson, Robert Woodrow, 1936-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Yariv, Amnon

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Additional

Kao, Charles K., 1933-2018

Shared Noble Prize in Physics with Smith and Boyle, "for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit - the CCD sensor."

Institutions

Major Positions

AT & T Bell Laboratories

Head, Device Concepts Group.

Bell Telephone Laboratories

Member, Technical Staff and Head, Device Concepts Group.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Physical Society

Fellow.

Franklin Institute (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Awarded the Ballantine Medal (1973).

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Awarded the Morris N. Liebman Award( 1974), and the Electron Devices Society Distinguished Service Award (1997).

National Academy of Engineering

Awarded the Charles Stark Draper Prize (2006).

National Academy of Engineering

Member.

Optical Society of America

Awarded the Edwin Land Medal (2001).

Phi Beta Kappa

Photographic Society of America

Awarded the Progress Medal (1986).

Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society of North America

University of Chicago. Department of Physics

Obtained MS in 1956 and PhD in 1959.

University of Pennsylvania. Department of Physics and Astronomy

Obtained BS in 1955.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Oral history interview with George E. Smith, 2001 January 17.

IEEE Global History Center

Rutgers University

39 Union Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA

Subject

William B. Bridges response to Laser History Project Survey, circa 1984.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

Nobel Prize Autobiography.

Subject

George Elwood Smith Professional Relations list.