SACRED LEGACY ARCHIVES™

Nick Holonyak

1928-11-03 – 2022-09-20

Photograph of Nick Holonyak, Jr. published in 2002. Behind him is a chart illustrating the advances in the efficiency of commercial LEDs since his invention of the GaAsP LED in 1962.Credit: AnonymousUnknown author

Life & Legacy

Nick Holonyak Jr. (November 3, 1928 – September 18, 2022) was an American electronics engineer. He is noted particularly for his 1962 invention and first demonstration of a semiconductor laser diode that emitted visible light. This device was the forerunner of the first generation of commercial light-emitting diodes (LEDs). He was then working at a General Electric research laboratory near Syracuse, New York. He left General Electric in 1963 and returned to his alma mater, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he later became John Bardeen Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics.

Occupation & Career

physicist, university teacher, inventor, engineer, electrical engineer, scientist

Education

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Accomplishments, Inventions & Publications

Lemelson–MIT Prize; National Medal of Technology and Innovation; Edison Medal; Frederic Ives Medal; IEEE Medal of Honor; National Medal of Science; Charles Hard Townes Award; National Inventors Hall of Fame; Charles Stark Draper Prize; IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award; Benjamin Franklin Medal; Fellow of the American Physical Society; Japan Prize; Global Energy Prize; Von Hippel Award; NAS Award for the Industrial Application of Science; Gordon E. Moore Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Solid State Science and Technology; IEEE Jack A. Morton Award; Washington Award; John Scott Award; Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering; Welker Award; light-emitting diode

Legacy Highlights

Honors & Awards

Benjamin Franklin Medal · Charles Hard Townes Award · Charles Stark Draper Prize · Edison Medal · Fellow of the American Physical Society · Frederic Ives Medal · Global Energy Prize · Gordon E. Moore Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Solid State Science and Technology · IEEE Jack A. Morton Award · IEEE Medal of Honor · IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award · Japan Prize · John Scott Award · Lemelson–MIT Prize · NAS Award for the Industrial Application of Science · National Inventors Hall of Fame · National Medal of Science · National Medal of Technology and Innovation · Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering · Von Hippel Award · Washington Award · Welker Award

Employer

Bell Labs · General Electric · University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Organizations & Memberships

American Academy of Arts and Sciences · American Physical Society · National Academy of Engineering · National Academy of Sciences · Russian Academy of Sciences