Emmett Finley Carter (July 1, 1901 - February 18, 1979) was an electrical engineer that worked at several companies; most notably, he was in upper management of

Sylvania Electric Products Sylvania Electric Products Inc. was an American manufacturer of diverse electrical equipment, including at various times radio transceivers, vacuum tubes, semiconductors, and mainframe computers such as MOBIDIC. They were one of the companies in ...

and was the director, and later president, of

SRI International SRI International (SRI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit scientific research, scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California, United States. It was established in 1946 by trustees of Stanford Univer ...

from 1956 to 1963.

Early life and education

Carter was born on July 1, 1901, in Elgin, Texas, to Alfred Hinds Carter and Jimmie Lucretia Stevens. He graduated from Rice Institute (in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

) in 1922 with a degree in electrical engineering.

Early career

After graduation, he joined

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

, where he developed high-power broadcast transmitters for WGY in Schenectady; KGO in Oakland; and KOA in Denver. He held a variety of positions, particularly in research and development, leaving the company in charge of a division. In 1929, Carter became the director of the radio division of United Research Corporation in New York, which was part of Warner Pictures. In this position, he designed Brunswick radios, circuits, and receivers, and held several patents covering his work during this period. He joined

in September 1932 as a consulting engineer, and would eventually become assistant chief engineer; in February 1941, he organized a new industrial relations department of Sylvania, and was elected director of Sylvania in March, 1943. In 1945, Carter was named Vice President of Engineering and in 1952 he was named Vice President and Technical Director.

Later career

In 1954, Carter joined the Sanford Research Institute (SRI), now known as

, as a Manager of Research Operations, reporting to director Jesse E. Hobson; his duties focused on coordinating interdisciplinary research efforts, particularly the ones that involved both physical and life sciences, or both economics and engineering. In 1956, Carter became the director of SRI, and a member of its board of directors. In 1959, SRI reorganized its leadership structure, and Carter was named the organization's first president. In 1958, SRI established its Life Sciences division under Bruce Graham. Carter was president until 1963, and retired from SRI in 1965.

Awards and memberships

Carter was a member of the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

, American Radio Relay League,

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...

, Eta Kappa Nu, and

Tau Beta Pi The Tau Beta Pi Association (commonly Tau Beta Pi, , or TBP) is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a ...

. He was a fellow of the

Institute of Radio Engineers The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was a professional organization which existed from 1912 until December 31, 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to form the Institute of Electrical ...

, and served on its board of directors. He was named an

IEEE Fellow , the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and ot ...

in 1949, and received the IEEE Founders Medal in 1969 "for outstanding contributions to the electrical engineering profession and to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers through wise and imaginative leadership in the planning and administration of technical developments in electronics and telecommunications".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, E. Finley SRI International people Directors of SRI International General Electric people 1901 births 1979 deaths Rice University alumni Fellows of the IEEE People from Elgin, Texas