James Hillier


James Hillier, was a Canadian-American scientist and inventor who designed and built, with Albert Prebus, the first successful high-resolution electron microscope in North America in 1938.

Biography

Born in Brantford, Ontario, the son of James and Ethel Hillier, he received a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Physics, Master of Arts, and a Ph.D from the University of Toronto, where, as a graduate student, he completed a prototype of the electron microscope that had been invented by Ernst Ruska. This transmission electron microscope was used as a prototype for later electron microscopes.
In 1941, he went to the United States of America and joined the Radio Corporation of America in Camden, New Jersey. He became General Manager, RCA Laboratories ; Vice President, RCA Laboratories ; Vice President, Research and Engineering ; Executive Vice President, Research and Engineering ; and Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist. New technologies developed during his tenure include the system that became RCA SelectaVision. Hillier spent many years refining the electron microscope and marketing it to research laboratories and universities, receiving a total of 41 patents for devices and processes.
After retiring from RCA in 1977, Dr. Hillier advised on the role of technology in the Third World and promoted science education. Although he became a U.S. citizen in 1945, Hillier remained involved with the Brantford community throughout his lifetime. The James Hillier Foundation, established in 1993, awards annual scholarships to Brant County students pursuing education in science.
In 1936, he married Florence Marjory Bell, a union that lasted until Florence's death in 1992. They had two sons: James Robert Hillier and William Wynship Hillier.
On January 15, 2007, Hillier died in Princeton, New Jersey due to a stroke.

Honours