2009-10-21 23:34:02 -
At its 10 th annual Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame awards ceremony held last night at the Consumer Electronics Association’s (CEA) Industry Forum in Phoenix, 13 prominent industry leaders were inducted.
They join 133 inventors, engineers, retailers, journalists and entrepreneurs that have been inducted since 2000. These leaders have played a crucial role in providing products and services that entertain, inform
and connect consumers. A full list of the 2009 inductees is available at www.CE.org/halloffame :
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Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA, praised the inductees for their contributions to the growth of the industry. “The CE Hall of Fame gives us the opportunity to showcase the people in our industry that offer creative solutions. Their ideas have changed the way consumers live,” he said. “Future leaders will expand upon these ideas and produce the next-generation of consumer electronics products,” he added.
In Tuesday night’s ceremony, Hall of Fame Inductee Dr. Joe Flaherty of CBS, who established the Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Systems, leading to the ATSC standard for digital television, said he often told his audience during HD demos, “Today you will see the worst HDTV you’ll ever see” but that the technology has grown beyond anyone’s expectations and “perhaps HDTV will soon be called the universal TV standard.”
Inductee Richard E. Wiley, past Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), played a pivotal role in the development of HDTV. In his acceptance speech, Wiley, who spent thousands of hours working as an unpaid volunteer to advance HDTV, praised Flaherty’s work and also recognized Shapiro for the role he played in promoting the standard. He mentioned how his career has been roughly divided in thirds; his time as FCC Chair, opening his law firm Wiley Rein LLP and his work on HDTV. He said, “If I had to choose one part of my career that I find to be the most satisfying, it would be the work I did on HDTV along with all of the others that were so committed.”
Dr. Irwin M. Jacobs, co-founder of Qualcomm who led the commercialization of CDMA technology, accepted his award and spoke about the humble beginnings of Qualcomm when he and his partner were trying to find the right digital strategy before they settled on CDMA. “It’s worked out pretty good for us,” he said. He also showed a cutting-edge device with a large screen that was running mobile TV.
Walt Stinson, president and co-founder of the Denver-based Listen Up audio/video specialty chain and co-founder of the Professional Audio Video Retailer's Association, in his acceptance speech talked about his boyhood love of electronics and how he could not have predicted what the future held. He said he was grateful to be included in the Hall of Fame that contains some of his heroes. He said, “Paul Klipsch and Jerry Kalov [2004 inductees] were two of my mentors that spent a great deal of time with me. It is an honor to be in the Hall of Fame with them.”
One of the most sentimental parts of the evening was when Neil Terk’s daughters Michaela and Romi accepted the award on behalf of their father who passed away in 2003. Terk created the Pi Antenna, which was so innovative in its design it was sold through the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Michaela, on leave from the Israeli Army said, “It means so much that my father lives on through this award.”
John Shalam, a long-time CEA volunteer and founder of Audiovox Corporation, recognized the executives at Audiovox, Shapiro, the CEA staff and his wife Jane. He said he was grateful that his father had the foresight to relocate his family from Egypt to America when he was a teenager. He said, “America provides so many opportunities that if you want to work hard, you can better yourself.”
The Hall of Fame inductees were chosen by a panel of industry judges from nominations submitted by industry professionals. Judging for the 2009 Hall of Fame took place on February 24 in New York.
Additional information about the CE Hall of Fame and bios of the inductees are available at www.CE.org :
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In addition, nominations for the 2010 class can be made online.
About CEA:
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $172 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. More than 2,000 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA also sponsors and manages the International CES – Where Entertainment, Technology and Business Converge. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA’s industry services. Find CEA online at www.CE.org :
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UPCOMING EVENTS
- 2009 CEA Industry ForumOctober 18-21, 2009, Phoenix, AZ
- Digital Hollywood FallOctober 19-22, 2009, Los Angeles, CA
- CES New York Press Preview featuring CES Unveiled @ NYNovember 10, 2009, New York, NY
- Future of Television EastNovember 18-19, 2009, New York, NY
- 2010 International CESJanuary 7-10, 2010, Las Vegas, NV
- Greener GadgetsFebruary 25, 2010, New York, NY
Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)Cindy Stevens,
703-907-7609
cstevens@CE.org : mailto:cstevens@CE.org www.CE.org :
orMark
Chisholm, 703-907-5229
mchisholm@CE.org : mailto:mchisholm@CE.org
