The Guglielmo Marconi International Fellowship Foundation, briefly called Marconi Foundation and currently known as The Marconi Society, was established by
Gioia Marconi Braga in 1974 to commemorate the centennial of the birth (April 24, 1874) of her father
Guglielmo Marconi
Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquess of Marconi ( ; ; 25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937) was an Italian electrical engineer, inventor, and politician known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegraphy, wireless tel ...
. The Marconi International Fellowship Council was established to honor significant contributions in science and technology, awarding the
Marconi Prize and an annual $100,000 grant to a living scientist who has made advances in communication technology that benefit mankind. Although Braga died in July 1996, the Marconi Society has continued to award the annual
Marconi Prize and fellowship, which were first awarded in 1975.
The Marconi Society also grants annual Marconi Society-Paul Baran Young Scholar Awards to young scientists who, by the time they turn 27, have made significant contributions in the fields of communication and information science. Originally, the Foundation was located at the
Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but also has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, its original home.
Its stated miss ...
. In 1997, it relocated, by invitation, to
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
's Fu School of Engineering and Applied Science. The organization currently is headquartered in northeastern Ohio, outside of Cleveland.
Mission
The Marconi Society is a public charity whose mission focuses on the intersection of
Internet and Communications Technology (ICT) and digital inclusion advocacy. Its mission is to bring the organization's vision, expertise, and connections to support technology and digital inclusion innovators who are connecting the world. In addition to the two awards programs, the organization runs th
Celestini Program which pairs students in STEM fields with mentors and hands-on experiential learning opportunities, coordinates partnerships to improve broadband data mapping, and operates a yearly symposium and gala to celebrate that year's awardees and present the latest research and breakthroughs in ICT.
The Marconi Prize
The Marconi Prize is an annual award recognizing achievements and advancements made in field of communications (radio, mobile, wireless, telecommunications, data communications, networks, and Internet). The prize is awarded by the Marconi Society and it includes a work of sculpture. Recipients of the prize are awarded at the Marconi Society's annual symposium and gala. The Marconi Prize winners are also named as ''Marconi Fellows''. The first woman to win the award was Andrea Goldsmith in 2020.
Marconi Society Lifetime Achievement Award
Occasionally, the Marconi Society Lifetime Achievement Award is bestowed on legendary late-career individuals, recognizing their transformative contributions and remarkable impacts to the field of communications and to the development of the careers of students, colleagues and peers, throughout their lifetimes.
So far, the recipients include:
* 2000:
Claude E. Shannon
* 2003:
William O. Baker
William Oliver Baker (July 15, 1915 – October 31, 2005) was president of Bell Labs from 1973 to 1979 and advisor on scientific matters to five United States presidents.
Biography
He was born on July 15, 1915, in Chestertown, Maryland.
He recei ...
* 2005:
Gordon E. Moore
* 2009:
Amos E. Joel Jr.
* 2011:
Robert W. Galvin
* 2017:
Thomas Kailath
* 2023:
Vint Cerf
Vinton Gray Cerf (; born June 23, 1943) is an American Internet pioneer and is recognized as one of "the fathers of the Internet", sharing this title with TCP/IP co-developer Robert Kahn.
He has received honorary degrees and awards that inclu ...
The Paul Baran Young Scholar Award
Since 2008, the Marconi Society has also issued the
Paul Baran
Paul Baran (born Pesach Baran ; April 29, 1926 – March 26, 2011) was a Polish-American engineer who was a pioneer in the development of computer networks. He was one of the two independent inventors of packet switching, which is today the do ...
Young Scholar Awards, which celebrate young leaders in advanced communications technology. Recipients are Himanshu Asnani (2014 or 2015), Salman Abdul Baset (2008), Aleksandr Biberman (2010), Salvatore Campione (2013), Keun Yeong Cho (2012), Aakanksha Chowdhery (2012), Guilhem de Valicourt (2012), Felix Gutierrez (2009), Joseph Kakande (2011), Bill Ping Piu Kuo (2011), Rafael Laufer (2008), Domanic Lavery (2013), Joseph Lukens (2015), Diomidis Michalopoulos (2010), Marco Papaleo (2009), Ken Pesyna (2015), Eric Plum (2009), Yuan Shen (2010), Kiseok Song (2014), Sebastien Soudan (2009), Jay Kumar Sundararajan (2008), Kartik Venkat (2015), Eitan Yaakobi (2009), Ke Wang (2013), Yihong Wu (2011), and Hao Zou (2008), Joe Lukens (2015), Kiseok Song (2014), Alexsandr Biberman (2010), Piotr Roztocki (2020), Vikram Iyer (2020).
References
{{Reflist
External links
The Marconi Societywebsite
Educational foundations based in the United States
Organizations established in 1974