William R. Hewlett is co-founder, former Chief Executive Officer, and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hewlett-Packard Company. His pioneering work in the design and development of electronics instrumentation, beginning with the audio oscillator, led to the formation of the multi-national corporation which bears his name. This achievement symbolizes the engineering excellence and entrepreneurism of the Silicon Valley.

Dr. Hewlett is a past Director and President of the Institute of Radio Engineers, now known as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He assisted in the development of the Western Electronics Manufacturers Association, now the American Electronics Association, and is an honorary trustee of the California Academy of Sciences. Dr. Hewlett’s long service to the community includes positions of leadership with Stanford Medical Center, the Kaiser Foundation Hospital, and the Drug Abuse Council in Washington D.C.. He is a Director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and is Chairman of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Dr. Hewlett is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences, and is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He was awarded the Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, the Master of Electrical Engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and honorary doctorates from several distinguished universities.

Born: May 20, 1913, Ann Arbor, MI
Died: January 12, 2001, Palo Alto, CA