John G. Linvill | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Linvill with his daughter Candy demonstrating the Optacon in 1974 | |
| Born | (1919-08-08)August 8, 1919 |
| Died | February 19, 2011(2011-02-19) (aged 91) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Electrical engineering |
| Institutions | Stanford University |
| Doctoral advisor | Ernst Guillemin |
John G. Linvill (August 8, 1919 – February 19, 2011)[1] was an Americanprofessor (emeritus) ofElectrical engineering atStanford University, known for his pioneering work in higher education,integrated circuits andsemiconductors, and for development of theOptacon reading machine for the blind.
Linvill and his identical twin brotherWilliam went to the same universities.[2][3] Linvill received his A.B. in mathematics in 1941 fromWilliam Jewell College, and his B.S., M.S., and Sc.D. fromMassachusetts Institute of Technology in 1943, 1945, and 1949 respectively.
He worked at Bell Telephone Laboratories from 1951 to 1955, when he joined the Stanford Electrical Engineering department. In 1969 he was appointed head of the EE department, and in 1979 he became Director of the Center for Integrated Systems at Stanford. His teaching and research concentrated on active circuits,[4] transistors, and models of semiconductors.[5]
In 1962, Linvill conceived theOptacon[6] (Optical-to-Tactile Converter) as a means to allow his blind daughter, Candy, to read ordinary print. He sparked the technical development of the device, which required innovations in integrated circuit technology developed under his leadership at Stanford. In 1970 he,Jim Bliss, and others from Stanford andSRI co-foundedTelesensory Systems (TSI) to manufacture and distribute the Optacon.
John Linvill was chairman of the board of TSI, served on the boards of otherSilicon Valley corporations, and led technical committees for theNational Research Council,NASA, and theIEEE. He holds eleven U.S. patents.[7]
He died February 19, 2011.[1][8]
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