The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame is an organization that honors Florida inventors, and is housed in the USF Research Park at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa. It was founded in 2013 by Dr. Paul R. Sanberg, senior vice president for research and innovation at USF, and is one of five state-specific halls of fame dedicated to inventors in the United States. In April 2014, State Senator Jeff Brandes sponsored the recognition of it, honoring the hall of fame for its commitment to invention, discovery, innovation, and excellence.
History
The FIHF was founded by Paul Sanberg, after visiting the
National Inventors Hall of Fame
The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also opera ...
, located in Alexandria, Virginia, and noticing a lack of Floridians in the Hall. The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame was formed in 2013 and the first induction ceremony was held September 10, 2014, in Tampa Florida. The first inductees included historic inventors
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...
(who had a laboratory in Fort Myers, Florida),
Robert Cade,
John Gorrie
John B. Gorrie (October 3, 1803 – June 29, 1855) was a Nevisian-born American physician and scientist, credited as the inventor of mechanical refrigeration.
Early life
Born on the Island of Nevis in the Leeward Islands of the West Indies t ...
, and
William Glenn
William Wallace Lumpkin Glenn (August 12, 1914 – March 10, 2003) was an American cardiac surgeon who co-created an early version of an artificial heart and was the developer of a technique for the treatment of congenital heart defects.
Glen ...
, as well as currently active scientists, Shin-Tson Wu, and Shyam Mohapatra.
The second annual induction ceremony has been announced for October 2, 2015, in Tampa.
Operations
The FIHF is led by an advisory board, chaired by Sanberg.
The FIHF inducts new honorees annuallythrough a nomination and review process.
Eligible inductees are any living or deceased person who has lived or worked in Florida, held
at least one U.S. patent, and have demonstrably improved life quality for the state and people of Florida and the United States.
Notable Living Inductees
Among the first inductees to the hall of fame were optics physicist
Shin-Tson Wu
Shin-Tson Wu, () is an American physicist and inventor of Taiwanese origin. He is currently a Pegasus professor at CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida. Wu's contributions to liquid-crystal research and the ...
, a University of Central Florida professor.
Wu is most notable for improving liquid crystal displays which are used in the screens of appliances like computers, smart phones, and televisions.
Another living inductee was Shyam Mohapatra, a pioneer in the field of biomedical nanotechnology and a USF Health Distinguished Professor at the University of South Florida as well as research scientist at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center.
References
External links
floridainvents.org{{University of South Florida
Science and technology halls of fame
Halls of fame in Florida
Organizations established in 2013
2013 establishments in Florida