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George H. Heilmeier
Engineer

George H. Heilmeier

Famoose for

Helping develop the first liquid-crystal displays.

LCD development · Heilmeier’s questions

Born
22 May 1936
Birthplace
Philadelphia
Died
April 2014

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George H. Heilmeier

George Heilmeier was an American engineer whose laboratory work on liquid crystals led to practical display technology. He later led major research organisations.

Early life

Education

Studied electrical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania and completed graduate degrees at Princeton.

Career

  1. 1958

    RCA Laboratories

    Joined the research laboratory.

  2. 1964

    Liquid crystals

    Identified electro-optical effects used in dynamic-scattering displays.

  3. 1975

    DARPA

    Became director of the research agency.

  4. 1991–1996

    Bellcore

    Served as president and chief executive.

Contributions

LCD development

Helped demonstrate working liquid-crystal displays.

Heilmeier’s questions

Developed questions for assessing a project’s aims, costs and benefits.

Beyond work

University service

Served on the Board of Overseers of Penn’s engineering school.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: IEEE Global History Network, © 2009 IEEE. CC BY-SA 3.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.