Franklin Laureate Database
Laureate Details
Robert E. Newnham, Ph.D.
Professor, Materials Research Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania
Year: 2004
Subject: Electrical Engineering
Award: Benjamin Franklin
Citation: The 2004 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering is awarded to Robert E. Newnham for his invention of multiphase piezoelectric transducers and their spatial architecture, which revolutionized the field of acoustic imaging.
Biographical Information
Robert Newnham has had a long and distinguished career covering crystallography, piezoelectric composites, and electronic ceramics. In the late 1970's he invented the composite piezoelectric transducer that has revolutionized fields of engineering such as underwater acoustics, medical ultrasound, and wireless communications.
Dr. Newnham received his B.S. in 1950 from Hartwick College, his M.S. in 1952 from Colorado State University, and two Ph.D.'s--one in physics in 1956 from The Pennsylvania State University and the second in crystallography, in 1960, from Cambridge University. Prior to joining the faculty of The Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Newnham served on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1958 to 1966.
Honored as an outstanding lecturer and educator, Dr. Newnham has also received the John Jeppson Medal and Award from the American Ceramic Society, and the International Ceramics Prize from the Academy of Ceramics, to name a few. He is a fellow of both the American Ceramic Society and Mineralogical Society of America, and a member of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the National Academy of Engineering, among others.