IEEE Awards Booklet - 2015 - 16

On This Date in History: 20 June

IEEE-HKN proudly recognizes
its members receiving
IEEE Medals and Technical Field Awards in 2015:
Marshall Greenspan
(Beta Theta, 1961), IEEE Dennis J� Picard Medal
for Radar Technologies and Applications

On 13 January 1902, IEEE predecessor the American Institute
of Electrical Engineers held its annual banquet at the original
Waldorf Astoria at 33rd Street and 5th Avenue in New York
City. 300 people attended. The guest of honor was the Italian/
British inventor Guglielmo Marconi, who only a month before
had succeeded in the first wireless telegraph transmission across
the Atlantic Ocean; three dots, spelling the Morse code letter
"S."The AIEE decorated the banquet hall for the occasion with
electric signs spelling out Marconi, Podhu (Cornwall), where
the signal originated, and. St. John's (Newfoundland), where
Marconi received the signal. The three names were connected
across the room by electric lights repeating the three dots of the
Morse code "S." Marconi addressed the gathered AIEE members after dinner, thanking the Institute for the honor and for
its support. He then proceeded to explain his work over the
preceding seven years; its commercialization for shorter-range
communication with British, Italian, and other ships; and its
future potential.
The banquet program, reproduced here and long preserved
in the IEEE Archives, is notable because it is autographed
not just by Marconi, but by five of AIEE's most prominent
members-Alexander Graham Bell, Charles Steinmetz, Frank
Sprague, Michael Pupin, and Elihu Thomson, as well as by British Counsel Percy Sanderson.
Eighteen years later, in 1920, IEEE's other predecessor, the
Institute of Radio Engineers, named Marconi the third recipient of its signature award, the Medal of Honor. Marconi was
unable to accept the award until he visited the United States
two years later. Then, on 20 June 1922, the IRE and the AIEE
held a joint banquet at the original Waldorf-Astoria to celebrate
the now-famous inventor and entrepreneur and to present him
with the IRE Medal of Honor. Marconi again addressed the
gathering, describing his latest achievements and the enormous
advances made in what was now known as radio over the 20
years since his original AIEE address.
-Sheldon Hochheiser, Historian, IEEE History Center

Georgios Giannakis
(Upsilon, 1984), IEEE Fourier Award
for Signal Processing
Martin Cooper
(Delta, 1950; Eminent Member 2013),
IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award

IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu (IEEE-HKN) is the honor society
of IEEE� It began in 1904 at the University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign and merged with IEEE in 2010�
IEEE-HKN recognizes engineering students, alumni,
and professionals who demonstrate the qualities of
Scholarship, Character, and Attitude� For more than
110 years, IEEE-HKN members have proven that the
balance of these characteristics supports success as an
engineering professional and in life�

For more Engineering and Technology History, visit: http://ethw.org

16 | 2015 IEEE AWARDS BOOKLET

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Awards Booklet - 2015
