A celebration of Richard "Dick" Morley , a giant of modern manufacturing, will take place via zoom Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, from 11 a.m. - 4:15 p.m.
EST. Attendees may attend for free by joining the Zoom meeting . The participants on this program were fortunate enough to interact with him during his lifetime. Among his seminal contributions were the programmable logic controller, automatic braking systems, and the floppy disk. We invite you to join us in celebrating this remarkable life.
About Richard Morley
Richard E. Morley (Dec. 1, 1932–Oct. 17, 2017) was an American technologist who was considered one of the "fathers" of the programmable logic controller (PLC) since he was involved with the production of the first PLC for General Motors, the Modicon, at Bedford and Associates in 1968. The Modicon brand of PLC is now owned by Schneider Electric.
The PLC has been recognized as a significant advancement in the practice of automation and has an important influence on manufacturing industry. He was born in Clinton, Massachusetts, in 1932 and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied physics. Dick Morley was an inventor, machinist, author, consultant and engineer. His peers have acknowledged his contributions with numerous awards from groups, such as the International Society of Automation (ISA); the Instrumentation Systems and Automation Society, Inc. magazine; the Franklin Institute; the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME); and the Engineering Society of Detroit.
He was also inducted into the Manufacturing Hall of Fame. SME offers the Richard E. Morley Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award for outstanding technical accomplishments in the manufacturing profession by engineers age 35 and under. Dick Morley worked out of his barn in New Hampshire where he and his wife had provided a home to 40 foster children.
He died on Oct. 17, 2017, in New Hampshire. (Biography adapted from Wikipedia .)
About the event
Eastern Time (New York) |
Event |
Participants |
11:00-11:30 |
Introduction to the Event Introducing Dick Morley |
George Markowsky |
11:30-12:00 |
Dick & Shirley Morley Early Years & Family |
Pat Letourneau Moderator: George Markowsky |
12:00-01:30 |
Panel 1: PLCs, Modicon, and Dick the person |
Panelists: Ken Ball, Deb Morrison, Jim Pinto, Chuck Schelberg. Moderator: George Markowsky |
01:30-02:30 |
Lunch Break Morley Videos Morley Photos Morley Slide Shows Llewellyn King Video |
An hour-long show, without live narration. Will include playing the White House Chronicle episode and some other videos and a slide show |
02:30-04:00 |
Panel 2: Evolution of Industrial Digital Control, Dick’s other inventions, his interest in improving the world. |
Panelists: David Bell, Rick Caldwell, Pat Letourneau, Patricia Moody, Jesse Yoder Moderator: GM |
04:00-04:15 |
Closing Remarks |
George Markowsky |
See additional program details here. *Photo above courtesy of The White House Chronicle*
