Jack Kilby Weekend — October 12-14, 2001
Great Bend, Kansas
reprinted by permission
Kilby honored by school
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| Great Bend High School Principal Joyce Carter applauds as Jack Kilby is shown the plaque that will hang in Jack Kilby Commons at Great Bend High School. The commons area was renamed in Kilby's honor Friday. Kilby, the 2001 Nobel Prize winner in physics, was in Great Bend to attend his 60th class reunion. |
Commons area named for Nobel Prize winner
Great Bend High School honored its most famous graduate, Jack Kilby, inventor of the integrated circuit, Friday by renaming the high school commons area Jack Kilby Commons.Also during the assembly, a plaque of Kilby to be placed in Jack Kilby Commons was presented to the public for the first time.
Kilby spoke only briefly to an audience of mostly high school students.
"I've always thought of this (Great Bend) as my hometown. It's great to see the town and the people again," said Kilby.
He ended by saying "I'm proud to be a Great Bend High School alumni."
After the main presentation had concluded, the Great Bend High School physics class, was invited to ask questions of Kilby.
Kilby answered questions about his invention and talked about the education he received at GBHS.
He mentioned the influence physics had on him specifically.
"It formed a basis for almost everything I did," he said, "and it's a field that has expanded tremendously since I took it in high school."
A student asked Kilby how he felt about having his picture in the Physics Hall of Fame beside other great inventors like Henry Ford.
"It's extremely flattering and probably not justified, but it's nice," said Kilby.