Gerhard M. Sessler (born 15 February 1931 in Rosenfeld,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

) is a German inventor and scientist. He is

Professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of the

Technische Universität Darmstadt The Technische Universität Darmstadt (official English name Technical University of Darmstadt, sometimes also referred to as Darmstadt University of Technology), commonly known as TU Darmstadt, is a research university in the city of Darmstadt ...

. Together with James E. West, he co-invented the foil electret microphone at

Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial Research and development, research and scientific developm ...

in 1962 and together with Dietmar Hohm the silicon microphone in 1983.

Life

From 1950 to 1959, Sessler studied physics at Universities of

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

, Munich, and

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

. He received his

diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from grc, δίπλωμα ''diploma'') is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, ...

a in 1957 and his Ph.D. from the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

in 1959. After working in the United States at

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mul ...

until 1975, he returned to the academia in Germany. From 1975 to 2000, he worked as a professor of

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of the

where he invented the silicon microphone. Since 1999, Sessler is Professor emeritus. He holds over 100 international

patents A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

, among them 18 US-patents. The first one, US 3,118,022, with James E. West, was issued on 14 January 1964. Sessler is the author/editor of several books on electrets and acoustics. In 2014, together with Ning Xiang, he co-edited a memorial book on Manfred R. Schroeder published by Springer. Furthermore, he is well known for his over 300 scientific papers in prestigious international magazines and journals. Gerhard Sessler was married to Renate Sessler and has three children: Cornelia, Christine and Gunther.

Publications

* Sessler, G.M.. (2006). Progress in electroacoustic transducer research. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. DOI: 10.1121/1.4787543 *Sessler, G.M.. (1980). Physical principles of electrets. In: Sessler G.M. (eds) Electrets. Topics in Applied Physics, vol 33. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. *Sessler, G.M.. (1981). Piezoelectricity in Polyvinylidene Fluoride. Journal of The Acoustical Society of America - J ACOUST SOC AMER. 70. 10.1121/1.387225. *Bauer, Siegfried & Gerhard, Reimund & Sessler, G.M.. (2004). Ferroelectrets: Soft Electroactive Foams for Transducers. Physics Today. 57. 37-43. 10.1063/1.1688068.

Awards

* Fellow of the

Acoustical Society of America The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is an international scientific society founded in 1929 dedicated to generating, disseminating and promoting the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications. The Society is primarily a voluntary org ...

, 1964 *Fellow of the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operati ...

, 1976 *Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

, 1991 * George R. Stibitz Trophy of

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...

, 1993 * Helmholtz-medal of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Akustik, 1993 * Silver Helmholtz-Rayleigh-medal of the

, 1997 * Induction into the

National Inventors Hall of Fame The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also oper ...

, 1999 * Technology Award of the Eduard Rhein Foundation, 2007 *

Honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from the

National Academy of Sciences of Belarus The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) ( be, Нацыянальная акадэмія навук Беларусі, russian: Национальная академия наук Беларуси, НАН Беларуси, НАНБ) is ...

, 2010 * Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering of

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 ...

, with James E. West, 2010 *

IEEE/RSE James Clerk Maxwell Medal The IEEE/RSE James Clerk Maxwell Medal is an award given by the IEEE and Royal Society of Edinburgh, UK. It is named after James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879), who made fundamental contributions to the classical theory of electromagnetic radi ...

, 2012 * Gold Medal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2015

References

External links

Inventor Hall of Fame ProfileGerhard Sessler, homepage at the Technical University of Darmstadt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sessler, Gerhard M. 1931 births Living people 20th-century German inventors Fellow Members of the IEEE Fellows of the American Physical Society Fellows of the Acoustical Society of America ASA Gold Medal recipients Technische Universität Darmstadt faculty