The following (quite nice) announcement appeared on the commercial newswire
today:
 
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WASHINGTON, March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- California business executives William
R. Hewlett and David Packard have been named co-recipients of the first
Lifetime Achievement Award by The Lemelson-MIT Prize Program, administered by
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  The announcement was made today by
MIT professor and internationally renowned economist Lester C. Thurow.
 Founders of Hewlett-Packard Company (Palo Alto, Calif.), the international
manufacturer of measurement and computation products and systems, Hewlett and
Packard will be honored at a ceremony this evening at the Smithsonian
Institution (Washington, D.C.) for their contributions to invention and
innovation, which span more than five decades.
 
    Underwritten by independent inventor Jerome H. Lemelson and his wife,
Dorothy, The Lemelson-MIT Prize Program was established in 1994 to recognize
the nation's most talented inventors and innovators and to establish positive
role models for American youngsters.  The program's Lifetime Achievement
Award honors individuals for career-long accomplishments in invention and
innovation.
 
    Thurow, who chairs the Prize Selection Committee, calls Hewlett and
Packard "extraordinary role models for aspiring American inventors. Hewlett
and Packard have not only demonstrated astounding creativity and
inventiveness in developing new technologies and products over many years,
but also applied that creative spirit to Hewlett-Packard Company's management
process.  The corporate culture they encouraged," adds Thurow, "set the
standard for the kind of flexible, humane work environment that fosters both
effective teamwork and individual achievement."
 
    Commenting on his Lifetime Achievement Award, Hewlett remarks, "Dave
(Packard) and I recognized from the start that invention was the lifeblood of
our company.  We tried to develop an atmosphere that encourages creativity
and innovation -- a place where people are enthusiastic about their work,
where they are unfettered by bureaucracy, and where their contributions are
recognized."
 
    Packard echoes the comments of his college friend and career-long
colleague: "The success of our company has been highly dependent on new
products," says Packard.  "We wanted all of our new products to be important
contributions to the progress of technology."  The new contributions of the
next generation of inventors, says Packard, "will be important in expanding
our technology in the next century.  From this will come a better life for
all of the people in our country -- indeed, for all of the people in the
world."
 
    William R. Hewlett and David Packard met as undergraduate students at
Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.), where both earned bachelor of arts
degrees in 1934.  After graduation, Packard went to work at General Electric
Company (Schenectady, N.Y.), while Hewlett earned his master's degree in
electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1936),
before returning to Stanford for his degree of Engineer (1939).
 
    In 1938, Packard also returned to Palo Alto, where he undertook a
fellowship at Stanford, arranged by the late Frederick Terman, then dean of
Stanford's School of Engineering.  Terman had a vision of a new technology
community in Palo Alto -- what is now known as the Silicon Valley -- and he
encouraged Hewlett and Packard to help found that community.
 
    In 1939, with $538 in capital, the two engineers established their own
enterprise in the garage of Packard's Palo Alto home.  Their first product, a
resistance-capacity audio oscillator, based on Hewlett's graduate work, was
purchased by Walt Disney Studios for use in the production of "Fantasia."
 
    Today, Hewlett-Packard Company is a $25 billion company employing more
than 98,200 people at facilities in 16 nations.  The innovative products
introduced by the company include: the high-speed frequency counter (1951)
used by radio stations to meet FCC requirements for frequency stability; the
cesium-beam standard instrument, known as the "flying clock" (1964), which
set international time standards; the world's first desktop scientific
calculator (1968); the world's first scientific hand-held calculator (1972);
the first "desktop" mainframe computer (1982).  In 1984, Hewlett-Packard
pioneered inkjet printing technology with the HP Thinkjet printer, followed
by the HP LaserJet printer, the most successful product in the company's
history.  By 1993, Hewlett-Packard had sold more than 10 million LaserJets
and more than 20 million printers total.
 
    "Bill Hewlett's and Dave Packard's uncompromising commitment to quality
provides a singular example for American industry," says Charles M. Vest,
president of MIT.  "By identifying specific technological needs and
challenging themselves and their employees to develop creative responses to
those needs," adds Vest, "Hewlett and Packard were directly responsible for
innovations that changed everything from the way we measure time to the way
we prepare even the simplest business documents. Perhaps even more important,
because many of their innovations made the use of technology more affordable
and less cumbersome, they contributed to the rapid dissemination of many
technologies that otherwise would have been inaccessible to many consumers."
 
    William R. Hewlett was born May 20, 1913, in Ann Arbor, Mich.  With the
exception of his years as an Army officer during World War II, Hewlett was
actively involved in management of Hewlett-Packard Company throughout his
career.  He served HP as vice president (1947); president (1964-1977); chief
executive officer (1969-1978); executive committee chairman (1978-1983); and
vice chairman of the board of directors from 1983 until 1987, when he was
named director emeritus.
 
    David Packard was born Sept. 7, 1912, in Pueblo, Colo.  When his
partnership with William R. Hewlett was incorporated as Hewlett-Packard
Company in 1947, Packard was named president.  He held that post until 1964,
when he was elected chairman of the board and chief executive officer.  In
1969, Packard left the company to serve as deputy secretary of defense in the
first Nixon administration.  In 1971, Packard resumed his position as
chairman of the Hewlett-Packard board.  He retired in 1993 and was named
chairman emeritus.
 
    Throughout his career, Packard was active in civic, business and
philanthropic organizations.  He returned to public service in 1985, when he
was appointed by then-President Reagan to chair the Blue Ribbon Commission on
Defense Management.  In California, Packard is especially identified with the
Monterey Bay Aquarium, a $49 million project of the Packard family.  He is
also a trustee of the Herbert Hoover Foundation and has held leadership
positions in the California Nature Conservancy and the Wolf Trap Foundation
(Vienna, Va.), an organization devoted to the performing arts.
 
    The Lifetime Achievement Award is part of The Lemelson-MIT Prize Program,
which awards an annual $500,000 prize to a United States citizen or permanent
resident (or a qualified team of individuals) who demonstrates excellence in
creativity, invention and/or innovation in medicine and health care; energy
and environment; telecommunications and computing; consumer products; durable
goods and industrial products.
 
    Today, William Bolander was named the first recipient of The Lemelson-MIT
Prize.  An engineer with GM Powertrain, Bolander was recognized for the
innovations he contributed to the development of the Saturn automobile and to
General Motors' Northstar Cadillac.
 
    "These first Lemelson-MIT Prize honorees, Bill Hewlett, Dave Packard and
Bill Bolander, personify the ideals that inspired me to establish the Prize
Program," comments Jerome Lemelson.  "Together they illustrate how the
American spirit of invention cannot only stimulate new businesses, but also
invigorate mature industries. Perhaps more important, they demonstrate to
young people that inventing and innovating can be just as exciting as careers
in entertainment and sports -- and just as rewarding."
 
    /CONTACT: Ann Cunniff or Leslie Joan Millenson, 312-946-1900, for The
Lemelson-MIT Prize; or David Lampe, 617-258-7216, for MIT Sloan School/
 
CO:  MIT; Hewlett-Packard Company
 
ST:  California, District of Columbia
 
IN:  CPR
 
SU:
 
 
Transmitted: 95-03-29 00:00:00 EST
 
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