Dr. G. David Forney, Jr. ’54, was presented with the 2016 Alumni Award on the school’s campus May 20, 2016.
“Dave has made tremendous contributions to the field of data communications,” said Head of School Dr. Robert P. Macrae. “His career and passion for electrical engineering led to his design of the first coding system to go into space as well as the first high-speed modem.”
While on campus, Forney spoke to Middle and Upper School students about his experience as a student.
“I have always considered myself extraordinarily lucky to have had the benefit of the best education the U.S. has to offer, said Dr. Forney. “After Country School, I went on to Choate, Princeton and MIT. Of those schools, I’ve always felt that the most important one for me was New Canaan Country School. With that start, I couldn’t have gone very wrong. I am therefore particularly touched to receive the NCCS Alumni Award.”
In 1965, he joined Codex Corporation, where he designed the first coding system to go into space for a NASA Pioneer deep-space mission in 1968. In 1970, he developed the first modern high-speed telephone line modem, which was the basis of Codex’ subsequent commercial success. He served as Vice President-R&D of Codex, and, after Codex’ acquisition by Motorola in 1977, as a Vice President of Motorola, until his retirement in 1999. He has been an Adjunct Professor at MIT since 1996.
Dr. G. David Forney, Jr. ’54, was presented with the 2016 Alumni Award on New Canaan Country School’s campus, May 20, 2016.
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