Jerry Dale Merryman (June 17, 1932 – February 27, 2019) was an American electrical engineer and inventor. He was a member of the team at

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...

that developed the first pocket

calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-si ...

in 1965.

Early life

Merryman was born on June 17, 1932, near

Hearne, Texas Hearne ( ) is a city in Robertson County, Texas, Robertson County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 4,544. The city is named for a family that settled in the area in the 19th centur ...

. He attended

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

but failed to graduate.

Career

Merryman began his career at

in 1963. With

Jack Kilby Jack St. Clair Kilby (November 8, 1923 – June 20, 2005) was an American electrical engineer who took part, along with Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor, in the realization of the first integrated circuit while working at Texas Instrumen ...

and James Van Tassel, he invented the hand-held calculator in 1965. Two years later, "The first patent for the calculator was filed." Merryman retired as an engineer for Texas Instruments in 1994 but continued to work for them as a consultant.

Personal life and death

Merryman was married three times. He first married Vernette Posey, followed by Sally Simon, and finally Phyllis Lee. He had a daughter, Melissa. Merryman died of heart and kidney failure on February 27, 2019, in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, at age 86.

Awards

*1997: Stibitz-Wilson Award from the

American Computer & Robotics Museum The American Computer & Robotics Museum (ACRM), formerly known as the American Computer Museum, is a museum of the history of computing, communications, artificial intelligence and robotics that is located in Bozeman, Montana, United States. Th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merryman, Jerry 1932 births 2019 deaths People from Hearne, Texas Texas A&M University alumni Texas Instruments people American electrical engineers 20th-century American inventors