Dr. John Moll Wins C&C Prize
October 27, 1997
Dr. John Moll, who played a seminal role in semiconductor
development during his career at Bell Laboratories, Stanford
University, Fairchild Camera and Instrument, and HP Laboratories, has
been awarded the 1997 C&C Prize, which carries a cash prize of
$80,000.
The Foundation for C&C Promotion in Tokyo, which awards the prize for
advances in the integration of computers and communications
technologies, cited Dr. Moll for his "contributions to physics of
semiconductor devices." Dr. Moll will receive the prize, which also
includes a medal and certificate, during a ceremony in Tokyo October
28.
As a member of the technical staff at Bell Labs from 1952 to 1958, Dr.
Moll led a small group of scientists and engineers seeking a new
technology to replace vacuum tubes and relays in the central offices
of the telephone system. The group's pioneering work led to the
identification of silicon as the most appropriate material for
semiconductors and to the development of the Ebers-Moll transistor
model. This model simulates the way a transistor works and remains
fundamental to the manufacture of today's large-scale circuits.
Dr. Moll left Bell Labs in 1958 to become a professor of electrical
engineering at Stanford University, where he researched the physics of
silicon devices. In 1969, he became technical director of the
optoelectronics division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument. He joined
HP in 1974 as director of integrated structures research and later
worked at HP Laboratories as associate director of the
superconductivity laboratory (1987-1990) and as a distinguished
contributor, HP's highest technical position (1990-1996). He retired
from HP Laboratories in December 1996.
A native of Wauseon, Ohio, Dr. Moll received his bachelor's degree in
physics (1943) and doctorate in electrical engineering (1952) from
Ohio State University.
Dr. Moll has been a Guggenheim Fellow (1964) and received the Franklin
Institute's Howard N. Potts Medal (1967), Ohio State University's
Distinguished Alumnus Award (1970), the IEEE's Ebers Award (1971), the
IEEE's Edison Medal (1991), and Eta Kappa Nu's Vladimir Karapetoff
Eminent Members' Award (1995).
He is a member of the American Physical Society, the IEEE, the
National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Sciences.
In addition, he is the author of "Physics of Semiconductors" (1964)
and the co-author of "Computer Aided Design in VLSI Development"
(published in 1985 and revised in 1988).
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