Wi-Fi, Ethernet “Fathers” to Meet for First Time at October 4 Awards Presentation

BOZEMAN, Mont.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The “fathers” of wireless and wired communication will meet for the first time in Bozeman, Mont., during an annual awards presentation by the American Computer Museum honoring technology pioneers.

“I know they are looking forward to seeing each other”

Vic Hayes, “the Father of Wi-Fi,” and “Ethernet Inventor” Bob Metcalfe will share the stage on Thursday, October 4, when each receives a George R. Stibitz Computer and Communications Pioneer Award at Montana State University. The free public event, titled “Human Nature and Social Media,” will be held at 7 p.m. in the Strand Union Building ballrooms.

“I know they are looking forward to seeing each other,” organizer George Keremedjiev said of Hayes and Metcalfe.

The evening also will feature a talk and book signing by Edward O. Wilson, professor emeritus at Harvard University and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner; a keynote address by Paul Ceruzzi, curator of aerospace electronics and computing at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.; a panel discussion involving MSU students and award recipients; and award presentations to three scientists who have made seminal contributions in their fields.

Wilson will present the Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Technology Pioneer Awards to Yale University’s Paul Anastas, May Berenbaum, of the University of Illinois; and MSU’s Gary Strobel.

Anastas, the “Father of Green Chemistry,” is director of the Center for Green Chemistry & Green Engineering and the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Professor in the Practice of Chemistry for the Environment at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale.

Berenbaum, the world’s foremost bee entomologist and head of the University of Illinois’ Entomology Department, is known for her contributions to the understanding of insect chemical ecology and the public understanding of biodiversity. In addition to her research on the chemical interactions between plant-eating insects and their host plants, she has built a second career as a science communicator.

Strobel, the “Indiana Jones of fungus hunters,” is known for his contributions to the understanding of antibacterial, antifungal and other bioactive plant compounds. He is one of the world’s leading microbiologists and fungi experts and a professor emeritus in MSU's Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology in the College of Agriculture.

In 1997, the American Computer Museum in Bozeman launched this awards ceremony to honor the living pioneers of the computer, communications and information age. The Stibitz award is named for George R. Stibitz, who pioneered the use of relays for digital computation at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey in 1937. Previous recipients of the award have included Steve Wozniak, co-founder of the Apple Computer Company; Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web; Martin Cooper, an inventor of the cell telephone; and Ross Perot, founder of Electronic Data Systems and U.S. presidential candidate in 1992 and 1996.

For more information, visit http://www.compustory.com or contact museum Director Keremedjiev at [phone] or [e-mail].