George Edward Alcorn Jr. | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Alcorn in 2011 | |
| Born | (1940-03-22)March 22, 1940 Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Died | June 19, 2024(2024-06-19) (aged 84) |
| Alma mater | Occidental College Howard University |
George Edward Alcorn Jr. (March 22, 1940 – June 19, 2024) was an Americanphysicist,engineer,inventor, and professor. He taught atHoward University and theUniversity of the District of Columbia, and worked primarily forIBM andNASA. Alcorn is credited with over 30 inventions and 8 patents resulting in his induction into theNational Inventors Hall of Fame in 2015.
Alcorn was born on March 22, 1940, to Arletta Dixon Alcorn and George Edward Alcorn Sr. inIndianapolis. They had another child, his younger brother Charles.[1] His father was a car mechanic, sparking his interest in engineering.[2]
Alcorn received a four-year academic scholarship toOccidental College in Los Angeles, where he graduated with aBachelor of Science in physics. He received his degree with honors while earning eight letters in basketball and football. Alcorn earned aMaster of Science inNuclear Physics in 1963 fromHoward University, after nine months of study. During the summers of 1962 and 1963, he worked as a research engineer for the Space Division ofNorth American Rockwell. He was involved with the computer analysis of launch trajectories and orbital mechanics for Rockwell missiles, including theTitan I and II, theSaturn, and theNova.[1] After earning aPhD inMolecular andAtomic Physics from Howard University in 1967, he went on to hold teaching positions in electrical engineering atHoward University and theUniversity of the District of Columbia, eventually rising to the rank of full professor.[3]
After earning his PhD, Alcorn spent twelve years working in the private sector.[4] He held positions as senior scientist atPhilco-Ford, senior physicist atPerkin-Elmer, and advisory engineer at IBM.[4]
Alcorn's best-known invention is theX-ray spectrometer, which earned him the NASA–Goddard Space Flight Center award for Inventor of the Year in 1984.[3] Other significant inventions concernedplasma etching for semiconductor devices. In 1999, Alcorn was honored with an award fromGovernment Executive magazine for developing the AirborneLIDAR Topographic Mapping System (ALTMS) in partnership with theHouston Advanced Research Center.[3]
In 2015, Alcorn was inducted into theNational Inventors Hall of Fame for his invention of the X-ray spectrometer.[5]
Alcorn married his wife Marie Davillier in 1969 and they have one son born in 1979. He later married Dorothy Green after the death of his first wife.[6] Alcorn died on June 19, 2024.[7]