Hall of Fame
The Grainger Engineering Hall of Fame recognizes Illinois engineering alumni, and others affiliated with the College, who have significant achievements in leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation of great impact to society. Each year the college will honor these remarkable accomplishments by inducting a class of honorees into the Grainger Engineering Hall of Fame.
Technology pioneer and business leader; Early employee and innovator at Oracle Corporation; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Informatica Corporation, an enterprise software category leader.
Computer pioneer and co-founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, the world's first minicomputer company.
Innovator in the fields of semiconductors, liquid crystal displays, and digital watches; pioneered the industry of programmable gate arrays; Co-founder of XILINX, the field programmable gate array creators.
For his entrepreneurial spirit as a co-founder of YouTube and for his internet technology innovations.
For his pioneering impact in the technical development of nuclear power and his advocacy for professional development in power engineering.
Inventor of the first yellow light emitting diode (LED) and pioneer in the development and commercialization of LED materials
For his role in developing low-power, high-performance computer technology used in today’s mobile devices.
For pioneering contributions to elementary particle physics and for applying fundamental physics principles to inform public policy in national security and intelligence.
For entrepreneurship and pioneering contributions to electric vehicles.
Global business and technology visionary who oversaw world-leading engineering breakthroughs at General Electric in areas as diverse as medical imaging, jet propulsion and advanced lighting, and whose research contributed to the advancement of computer tomography X-ray systems.
For his contributions to society in the development of real-time embedded software products including those used in the Mars Pathfinder and Stardust projects.
Worldwide entrepreneurial leader, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Motorola, and retired Chief Executive Officer of Eastman Kodak Company.
For corporate leadership in guiding International Paper Company to become a world leader in forest and paper products.
For his preeminence in numerical analysis, building algorithms that laid the foundation for high-speed scientific computing.
For his indelible influence in growing the sport of football in America—from establishing and coaching the Chicago Bears for 40 successful seasons to founding the National Football League.
Scientist, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, whose contributions to thick-and thin-film technology have made a significant impact in biomedical, communications, aerospace, and defense industries.
Global leader in new aircraft development programs introducing advanced technology in aerodynamics, acoustics, avionics, and systems.
Inventor of the quantum well laser, who also introduced the Henry linewidth enhancement factor to explain the significant line broadening of semiconductor lasers.
World-renowned aeronautical scientist who championed the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) and the Lunar Module (LEM) concepts used in NASA’s manned moon landing program
Entrepreneur and Co-Founder, Chairman, Director and Former CEO of II-VI, Inc.; Innovator in infrared optical materials, and the growth of II-VI compound semiconductor crystals and other optical, laser, and electronic materials.
For his entrepreneurial spirit as a co-founder of YouTube and support of other entrepreneurs as a mentor and investor.
For entrepreneurial tenacity in building Generac to a leader in lightweight portable generators and his philanthropic spirit in helping shape the next generation of engineers.
For significant contributions in both research and development through industry to productivity tools in parallel computing.
For global contributions to low-temperature physics, which earned him the 2003 Nobel Prize.
Technology Entrepreneur, angel investor, and cryptographer; Cofounder of PayPal, creator of online security and fraud-prevention systems; Founder and CEO of Slide; Founder and CEO of Hard Valuable Fun (HVF) incubator lab.
Technology entrepreneur who co-founded PayPal and other consumer internet companies, and created “instant transfer” and the first on-line advertising network; General Partner at venture capital firm Founder’s Fund.
For his breadth of influence in the fields of systems engineering and software development and for his investment and leadership in the Southeast Asia tech industry.
Early leader, outstanding innovator and entrepreneur in the CAD/CAM industry, who redefined how we conceptualize, design, and produce millions of products.
Innovative leader in higher education; Model administrator, teacher and researcher; Award-winning scientist and inventor of digital appliance controls used in appliances and microwave ovens worldwide.
Technology entrepreneur, founder, chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Siebel Systems, a global leader in application software and recognized as one of the world’s preeminent software companies.
Visionary whose research contributed to the plasma display panel technology, its lower power consumption and higher contrast ratio; Business leader at Panasonic whose worldwide advocacy resulted in plasma TV commercialization; Founded Plasmaco
Entrepreneurial leader, global philanthropist; Founder and Retired Chairman of Hsin Chong Construction Group, Ltd