Jack Kilby Weekend — October 12-14, 2001
Great Bend, Kansas

Kilby is also accustomed to receiving awards that look rather nice on a resume. In 2000 the King of Sweden handed him a Nobel Prize, the most prestigious prize in the world, along with a check for nearly half a million dollars. In 1993 he received the Kyoto Prize in Japan, Japan’s highest award for technical achievement. In 1982 Jack Kilby was admitted to the United States Inventors Hall of Fame. In 1970 Kilby received the National Medal of Science in a White House ceremony.

So what’s the fuss all about? In 1958 Kilby solved a problem that had stymied scientists and engineers for years. The problem was called "the tyranny of numbers." Scientists could only dream of fast, powerful computers, because a fast, powerful computer required miles of wire and hundreds of soldered connections.

Kilby came up with a clever way to solve the problem----get rid of the wires and soldering altogether, and instead print multiple electrical components on a silicon surface. This idea reduced the size and cost of computers and other electronic devices dramatically.

"The Nobel Prize was a pleasant surprise. I don’t think Jack thought he would ever get one," said Jane Kilby, Jack’s sister. Robert Noyce of Intel, who came up with the same idea six months after Kilby, and who is credited as the co-inventor of the microchip, died in 1990. Only living people can receive a Nobel Prize.

Kilby’s sister, daughters (Ann and Janet), and 5 granddaughters all attended the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. Sadly, Jack Kilby’s wife, Barbara, passed away in 1981, and never got to see her husband get his due.

So how can Great Bend possibly honor this man without the honor seeming to pale in comparison to his other honors? Great Bend certainly has no new $150 million buildings that can be named after this man. Instead, Great Bend will have to change the name of an existing street, park, or school to honor Kilby. Although many in Great Bend don’t like change, Kilby is worthy of some really significant honor from his hometown that he has always embraced.