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Celebrating 50 Years of Electron Devices
In late 1951, a proposal was approved by the
IRE Executive Committee to form the Professional Group on Electron
Devices — the antecedent of the present IEEE Electron Devices
Society. Its Administrative Committee (AdCom) held its first meeting
on March 5, 1952, at IRE headquarters in New York City. At the
helm was Chairman George D. O’Neill of Sylvania, who had
served in many capacities on the previous committees since the
late 1930s. Leon Nergaard was the founding Vice Chairman and John
Saby served as the first Secretary. By the mid-1950s, there were active chapters
in Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco
and Washington, as well as struggling groups in other areas. By
December 1953, paid membership in the full Professional Group
exceeded 1,000 engineers and scientists. Of major importance during those formative
years were the tireless efforts of Yale professor, Herbert J.
Reich, and Saby, as the successive Chairmen of the AdCom subcommittee
on publications, to pull together and publish a quarterly journal
for the group, called the Transactions
of the IRE Professional Group on Electron Devices.
The Transactions was first published in October 1952. Today, the Electron Devices Society has about
13,500 members, 107 chapters, 15 publications (including a Newsletter
and Directory), and 138 technical meetings. The story of our beginnings and the subsequent
years are chronicled in a history booklet, written by Michael
Riordan, entitled Ï50 Years of Electron Devices: The IEEE Electron
Devices Society and Its TechnologiesÓ. The manuscript relates
the technical achievements in electron devices from the vacuum
tubes era to the present. Interwoven with our technical work is
a chronology of our Society’s history. The booklet is the
end result of the hard work and dedication of the EDS History
Committee led by Craig Casey: The committee members are: Jim Early;
Tak Ning; Lew Terman; Richard True; and Cary Yang. The booklet
will be mailed to EDS members this Spring. An exhibit based on the booklet will be designed
by the IEEE History Center and put on display at the IEEE Operations
Center. It will travel to San Francisco in December 8-11, 2002
and will be available for viewing in the public spaces at the
IEDM. Also at the IEDM, a membership booth will
be set-up at the end of the exhibit. EDS Administrative committee
members will be on hand to assist with membership applications,
answer your questions, and welcome volunteers, etc. A dinner celebration will be held on Sunday,
December 8, 2002, with invitations to be sent to Past EDS Presidents,
EDS-related Nobel Prize Winners, EDS Distinguished Service Award
Winners, J.J. Ebers Award Winners, IEEE Millennium Medal Winners,
and long standing EDS service volunteers. Introductions and a
special award are planned before dinner, and a keynote talk, Ï50
years in 50 minutes,Ó will be given over dessert. But is doesn’t end there. To make our
birthday party a global celebration, subsequent regional activities
are being planned throughout the subsequent year. Stay tuned for details in future newsletter
issues. Arlene A. Santos |
The
Electron Devices Society is turning fifty years old this year,
and we are going to celebrate!