Richard E. Morley (December 1, 1932 – October 17, 2017) was an American mechanical engineer who was considered one of the "fathers" of the programmable logic controller (PLC) since he was involved with the production of the first PLC for General Motors, the Modicon, at Bedford and Associates in 1968. The Modicon brand of PLC is now owned by

Schneider Electric Schneider Electric SE is a French multinational company that specializes in digital automation and energy management. It addresses homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries, by combining energy technologies, real-time automatio ...

. The PLC has been recognized as a significant advancement in the practice of

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

, and has an important influence on

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

Biography

He was born in

Clinton, Massachusetts Clinton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,428 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Clinton, please see the article Clinton (CDP), Massach ...

, in 1932 and attended the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

Legacy

An inventor, machinist, author, consultant and engineer, his peers have acknowledged his contributions with numerous awards from groups such as the International Society of Automation (ISA), the Instrumentation Systems and Automation Society, Inc. magazine, the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

, the

Society of Manufacturing Engineers SME (previously the Society of Manufacturing Engineers) is a non-profit student and professional association for educating and advancing the manufacturing industry in North America. History SME was founded in January 1932 at the height of the G ...

(SME) and the

Engineering Society of Detroit The Engineering Society of Detroit (also known as ESD) is a regional engineering association, headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, serving engineers and related technical professionals in Southeast Michigan. The Society was founded in 1895 by a ...

. He was also inducted into the Manufacturing Hall of Fame. SME offers the Richard E. Morley Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award for outstanding technical accomplishments in the manufacturing profession by engineers age 35 and under. Morley worked out of his barn in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

where he and his wife had provided a home to 40 foster children. He died on October 17, 2017, in New Hampshire.A Legend Passes: Dick Morley Died Today
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Awards

* 2016 Inducted into the Measurement, Control & Automation Hall of Fame by the Measurement, Control & Automation Association (MCAA) * 2016 Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) Lifetime Achievement Award * 2007–2008 SME Manufacturing Enterprise Council Member * 2006–2008 NH Judge - Hi Tech Council Product of the Year * 2006 Process Automation Hall of Fame (Control magazine) * 2005 SME Board of Directors * 1996 Automation Hall of Fame Prometheus Award * 1995 SME Fellow * 1993 Parallel Processor Design — Flavors * 1991

Howard N. Potts Medal The Howard N. Potts Medal was one of The Franklin Institute Awards for science and engineering award presented by the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named for Howard N. Potts. The first Howard N. Potts Medal was awarded in ...

* 1990 Entrepreneur of the Year * 1981 Gould Science & Engineering Fellow *

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

Technical Excellence Award

References

External links

Interview with Dick Morley

The father of invention: Dick Morley looks back on the 40th anniversary of the PLC

YouTube channel with stories by Dick Morley

Morley obituary
at WSJ, Nov. 10, 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Morley, Dick 1932 births 2017 deaths American electrical engineers 20th-century American inventors Howard N. Potts Medal recipients Programmable logic controllers People from Clinton, Massachusetts

Biography

Legacy

Awards

See also

References

External links