Bernard M. Oliver
Hewlett-Packard Company
May 27, 1916 - November 23, 1995
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Scientific Discipline: Engineering Sciences Membership Type:
Emeritus
(elected 1973)
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Electrical engineer Bernard M. Oliver was a key figure in the development of modern electronic equipment. Oliver spent more than a decade at Bell Laboratories where he worked on standards for television transmission and on radar during World War II. In 1952, he joined the newly created Hewlett-Packard as the Director of Research and Development. Oliver’s legacy at HP included contributing to the company’s first computer, the first programmable desktop calculator, and the first hand-held calculator. Following his retirement from Hewlett Packard, he led efforts to find extraterrestrial life. He co-directed a study called Project Cyclops at NASA’s Ames Research Center and later managed NASA’s SETI office. He also founded Biosys, a company that specialized in biological controls for agriculture.
In 1935, Oliver received his A.B. degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University. The following year he went to the California Institute of Technology to earn his M.S. and then his Ph.D. in 1940 (both in electrical engineering). He worked for Bell Telephone Laboratories from 1939 to 1952 before he became the Director of Research at Hewlett Packard. After five years, Oliver was promoted to vice president of research and development at HP, a job he would keep for over four decades. He was a member of the Science and Technology Advisory Committee to California State Assembly, the President’s Commission on the Patent System, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (where he was president for a short term). Although Oliver received many different distinctions for his scientific contributions, the most distinguished were the National Medal of Science in 1986, the Medal for Exceptional Engineering Achievement from NASA in 1990, and the Pioneer Award from the International Foundation for Telemetering the same year.
