Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Alfred N. Goldsmith

The IRE awarded its 1941 Medal of Honor to Alfred N. Goldsmith "for his contributions to radio research, engineering, and commercial development, his leadership in standardization, and his unceasing devotion to the establishment and upbuilding of the Institute and its Proceedings." In addition to being a central participant in the founding of the IRE in 1912, he served as the editor of the Proceedings from 1913 through 1954 except for one year when he was president of the IRE. He became a Fellow of the IRE in 1915 and served on the IRE Board of Directors from 1912 until the merger with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to form the IEEE in 1963. Goldsmith also taught electrical engineering for many years and served as the first research director at the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). He received 122 patents for his inventions, primarily in the fields of radio, facsimile systems, television, and motion pictures. But it was his inspired leadership in making the Proceedings of the IEEE into a preeminent international professional engineering journal that earned him the admiration and respect of his peers.