George E. Smith
George E. Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 10, 1930 |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago (PhD 1959) University of Pennsylvania (BSc 1955) |
| Known for | Charge-coupled device |
| Awards | IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award (1974) Draper Prize (2006) Nobel Prize in Physics (2009) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Bell Labs |
George Elwood Smith (born May 10, 1930) is an American scientist and co-inventor of the charge-coupled device. He was awarded a one-quarter share in the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics for "the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit—the CCD sensor".[1]
Smith was born in White Plains, New York. Smith served in the US Navy, attained his BSc at the University of Pennsylvania in 1955 and his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1959 with a dissertation of only three pages.[2] He worked at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey from 1959 to his retirement in 1986, where he led research into novel lasers and semiconductor devices. During his tenure, Smith was awarded dozens of patents and eventually headed the VLSI device department.[3]
In 1969, Smith and Willard Boyle invented the Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)[4], for which they have jointly received the Franklin Institute's Stuart Ballantine Medal in 1973, the 1974 IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award, the 2006 Charles Stark Draper Prize, and the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Both Boyle and Smith were avid sailors who took many trips together. After retirement Smith sailed around the world with his wife, Janet, for five years, eventually giving up his hobby in 2001 to "spare his 'creaky bones' from further storms."[3]
References
- ^ The Nobel Prize in Physics 2009, Nobel Foundation, 2009-10-06, retrieved 2009-10-06.
- ^ George Smith telephone interview, Nobel Foundation, 2009-10-06, retrieved 2009-10-11
- ^ a b PROFILE: George Smith - Nobel winner and world sailor, EarthTimes, 2009-10-06, retrieved 2009-10-06.
- ^ Nobel prize press release, Nobel Foundation, 2009-10-06, retrieved 2009-10-11
