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Bernard M. Oliver

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Bernard More Oliver (May 17, 1916 – November 23, 1995)[2] also known as Barney Oliver, was an American engineer who made contributions in many fields, including radar, television, and computers.[3] He was the founder and director of Hewlett-Packard (HP) laboratories until his retirement in 1981. He is also a recognized pioneer in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).[4][5] Oliver was president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1965.[6]

Bernard M. Oliver
Born(1916-05-17)May 17, 1916
Santa Cruz County, California, U.S.
DiedNovember 23, 1995(1995-11-23) (aged 79)
Santa Clara, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationStanford University (BS, MS)
California Institute of Technology (PhD)
Known for
AwardsNational Medal of Science (1986)
National Inventors Hall of Fame (2004)
Scientific career
FieldsComputer science
InstitutionsHewlett-Packard

In 1973, Oliver was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. In 1986, Oliver received the National Medal of Science for Engineering Science. In 2004, Oliver was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. The asteroid, 2177 Oliver, is named after him.

Early life and education

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Bernard (Barney) More Oliver, born to Margaret (née More) and William Oliver,[7] was a native of Santa Cruz, California, grew up on a ranch in the Soquel Valley,[8] and at age 19, received an undergraduate degree from Stanford in 1935.[8] He then obtained a master's degree from the university in 1936[8] and went to Germany for a year on a scholarship,[7] and returned to complete a Ph.D. magna cum laude by 1939,[9] receiving the degree in 1940[8] from Caltech.[10]

Early career

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Oliver was a member of the technical staff of the Bell Telephone Laboratories from 1940 to 1952.[8]

HP Labs

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In 1952, Oliver became Hewlett-Packard's Director of Research,[11] and founded HP Labs.[7] In 1957,[11] Oliver was named Vice President for R&D, and joined HP's Board of Directors, working there until 1981.[7]

In May 1972, the Barney Oliver Amplifier[12] was offered to virtually every product and sales division employee for $325, with 400 orders received by February 1973.[13] The Barney Oliver Amplifier[14] was a cooperative,[15] after-hours "G" job,[16][17] with Chris Clare, Rich Marconi and Ken Peterson of Paul Stoft's lab assisting on electrical and mechanical aspects, Paul Rasmuasen of Corporate Industrial Design lending his special talents, Clarence Studley of Paul Stoft's lab finalizing the mechanical design, Eileen Martin of HPL doing PC layout, Betty Downs of HPL doing schematics and artwork, and Tom Osborne, helping in a variety of ways.[13] By May 1973, HP produced 400 units, on a time-available basis, for employees only,[18] with earlier models made available in kit form.[13] Bill Hewlett's Barney Oliver Amplifier serial number was 554.[19]

"An old friend of mine who was one of the chief engineers at Hewlett-Packard, Barney Oliver, decided to make a power amplifier. This was maybe 30 years ago, and he got Dave Packard's approval, they would make a hundred, two hundred. It was a terrible amplifier, and Barney, who had the entire backing of Hewlett-Packard, was one of the smartest engineers going. The notion that audio is simple and easy to do is a big fantasy. There are very few people who have ever done it really well." - Richard Sequerra, 26 April 2009 Stereophile[20]

Works

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  • Oliver, Bernard M. (1997). The Selected Papers of Bernard M. Oliver. Hewlett-Packard Laboratories.
  • Oliver, Barney (2001). Modern English Misusage: The Rules of Grammar Explained With Precision & Wit. SETI Press. ISBN 9780966633528.

Scientific contributions

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Chairs, foundations, and awards

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Personal life

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In 1945, Oliver married to Priscilla Newton until her death in December 1994.[8] They had three children, Karen, Gretchen and William.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Thanking Barney Oliver: The HP 35 Plaque". HPCA Archives Virtual Vault. HP History. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  2. ^ Drake, Frank (September 1996). "Obituary: Bernard M. Oliver, 1916-1995". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 28 (4): 1459–1461. Bibcode:1996BAAS...28.1459D.
  3. ^ "English".
  4. ^ "More About Bernard M. Oliver". Archived from the original on 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
  5. ^ "The EPF Bernard Oliver Memorial Fund". www.planetarysystems.org. Archived from the original on 13 October 1999. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Bernard Oliver". IEEE Global History Network. IEEE. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  7. ^ a b c d Drake, F. (1996). "Obituary: Bernard M. Oliver, 1916-1995". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 28 (4): 1459–1461. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Fisher, Lawrence M. (28 November 1995). "Bernard M. Oliver Is Dead at 79; Led Hewlett-Packard Research". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  9. ^ Oliver, Bernard M., 1916-. (1986). Oral history interview with Bernard More Oliver. Charles Babbage Institute. Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, http://hdl.handle.net/11299/107590. PDF
  10. ^ "Dr. Bernard M. Oliver 1997". Silicon Valley Engineering Council. San Jose, CA. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Bernard M. Oliver ( 1916 - 1995 )". SETI Institute. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  12. ^ Oliver, Bernard M. (1997). The Selected Papers of Bernard M. Oliver. Hewlett-Packard Laboratories.
  13. ^ a b c "Barney Oliver Amplifier". HP Memory Project. Retrieved 2 September 2024. not associated with the Hewlett-Packard Company
  14. ^
  15. ^ "The Barney Oliver Amplifier Story". HP Memory Project. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2024. not associated with the Hewlett-Packard Company
  16. ^ "G" job was short for "Government Job". It was a long-standing policy in HP that engineers had free access to HP parts and labs/shops to pursue their own personal hobby projects (g-jobs) -- within reason and for their own use. The idea was that any time spent honing their engineering skills ultimately benefited the company.
  17. ^ "The Barney Oliver Amplifier Memo" (PDF). HP Archive. Retrieved 2 September 2024. not associated with the Hewlett-Packard Company
  18. ^ Malone, Michael S. (2008). Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World's Greatest Company. Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-187-6 – via archive.org.
  19. ^ "The Barney Oliver Amplifier". Hewlett-Packard Company Archives Virtual Vault. Hewlett-Packard. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  20. ^
  21. ^ "Bernard (Barney) More Oliver". Invent Hall of Fame. 2010-12-05. Archived from the original on 2010-12-05. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  22. ^ Hall of Fame induction info Bernard Oliver, The National Inventors Hall of Fame
  23. ^ HP Labs Founding Director Barney Oliver to be Inducted Into National Inventors Hall of Fame news release HP.com
  24. ^ The Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI, Tom Pierson, The Columbus Optical SETI Observatory, 30. October 1997
  25. ^ Bernard Oliver Memorial Fund at planetarysystems.org
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