James Hillier, American Technology management executive, researcher. Decorated officer Order of Canada, 1997; inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame, 1980, New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame, 1992; recipient JamesLoudon Gold medal U. Toronto, 1937, Albert Lasker award APHA, 1960, Commonwealth award, 1980, Presidential award Microbeam Analysis Society, 1989.
Background
Born in Brantford, Ontario, the son of James and Ethel (Cooke) Hillier, he received a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Physics (1937), Master of Arts (1938), and a Doctor of Philosophy (1941) from the University of Toronto, where, as a graduate student, he completed a prototype of the electron microscope that had been invented by Ernst Ruska.
Education
Bachelor, University Toronto, 1937. Master of Arts, University Toronto, 1938. Doctor of Philosophy, University Toronto, 1941.
Doctor of Science (honorary), University Toronto, 1978. Doctor of Science (honorary), New Jersey Institute of Technology, 1981. Doctor of Laws (honorary), Wilfrid Laurier University, 2002.
Career
This transmission electron microscope was used as a prototype for later electron microscopes. In 1941, he went to the United States of America and joined the Radio Corporation of America in Camden, New Jersey. He became General Manager, Radio Corporation of America Laboratories (1957).
Vice President, Radio Corporation of America Laboratories (1958).
Vice President, Research and Engineering (1968). Executive Vice President, Research and Engineering (1969).
And Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist (1976). New technologies developed during his tenure include the system that became Radio Corporation of America SelectaVision.
(Note: Radio Corporation of America Laboratories, located in Princeton, New Jersey, became independent of Radio Corporation of America as a result of the corporate take-over by General Electric in 1986 and became Sarnoff Corporation, a subsidiary of Socially Responsible Investment International through 2011, when it was absorbed by Socially Responsible Investment) Hillier spent many years refining the electron microscope and marketing it to research laboratories and universities, receiving a total of 41 patents for devices and processes.
After retiring from Radio Corporation of America in 1977, Doctor Hillier advised on the role of technology in the Third World and promoted science education. Although he became a United States. citizen in 1945, Hillier remained involved with the Brantford community throughout his lifetime. The James Hillier Foundation, established in 1993, awards annual scholarships to Brant County students pursuing education in science.
They had two sons: James Robert Hillier and William Wynship Hillier.
On January 15, 2007, Hillier died in Princeton, New Jersey due to a stroke. In 1950, the James Hillier Public School in Brantford, Ontario was opened.
President, founder James Hillier Foundation, Inc., since 1996. Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science (chairman nomination committee section M 1965), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (David Sarnoff award 1967, Founders medal 1981), American Physical Society (member at large, governing board 1964-1965). Member Microscope Society of America (president 1944, Distinguished Scientist award 1977), Industrial Research Institute (board directors 1960-1965, president 1964, Institute medal 1975), National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc.
(board directors since 1992, Lifetime Achievement award 2002), National Academy Engineering (council 1971), Rotary (board directors 1988-1991), Nassau Club, Sigma Xi.
Connections
Married Florence Marjory Bell, October 24, 1936 (deceased 1992). Children: James Robert, William Wynship (deceased).
Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research; Officer of the Order of Canada; IEEE David Sarnoff Award
the Founders Medal; Lasker Award; Order of Canada
The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1945 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine.; The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is the second highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada.
The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1945 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine.; The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is the second highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada.
Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research; Officer of the Order of Canada; IEEE David Sarnoff Award
the Founders Medal; Lasker Award; Order of Canada
The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1945 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine.; The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is the second highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada.
The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1945 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine.; The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is the second highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada.