Retired SanDisk CEO and Founder Eli Harari Inducted Into National Inventors Hall of Fame

Western Digital Corp. announced that the National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF), in partnership with United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), has inducted founder and retired CEO of SanDisk (1) Dr. Eli Harari into its 2017 class.

Eli Harari accepts his medal
at the National Inventors Hall of Fame’s 45th Annual Induction Ceremony

(Photo: National Inventors Hall of Fame)

He was recognized for his groundbreaking inventions that helped lead to the development and commercialization of flash storage. He was formally inducted during a ceremony last week at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC.

He accepts his medal at the National Inventors Hall of Fame’s 45th Annual Induction Ceremony.

“The breakthrough storage technologies pioneered by Eli and his ability to recognize the broad applications for flash memory were instrumental in the creation of the flash industry and forever changed how we consume, store and share data,” said Steve Milligan, CEO, Western Digital. “His ingenuity and bold vision helped to firmly establish the SanDisk brand around the world. Eli truly embodies the title ‘innovator’ and I am sincerely honored to congratulate him on this prestigious achievement.”

“Dr. Harari’s innovations and leadership played a pivotal role in the development and proliferation of flash memory,” said Dr. Siva Sivaram, EVP of memory technology, Western Digital. “The storage technologies he helped pioneer transformed the consumer electronics industry and continue to expand the possibilities of data in a wide range of new markets and technology areas, from the data center to the IoT. I am proud to congratulate my friend and role model, Eli, on this well-deserved accolade.”

Dr. Harari and 14 other elite engineers, scientists and inventors were selected for induction into the NIHF for groundbreaking, patented inventions that had a ‘meaningful contribution to society’. Among his achievements, he co-invented System-Flash and invented the floating gate EEPROM, an innovation that enabled storage in flash memory. This work served as the foundation for transforming flash memory into a versatile and portable mass-storage media, and led to the development and commercialization of the compact, low-cost flash memory that is today found in everything from smartphones and computing devices, to the data center, to ‘connected’ IoT devices and more.

“Dr. Harari’s important work in storage has been fundamental to development of technologies that today are at the heart our digital lives,” said National Inventors Hall of Fame CEO Mike Oister. “We are proud to welcome to the National Inventors Hall of Fame Dr. Harari and the rest of this year’s new class of industry pioneers whose patented innovations have furthered our nation.”

This year’s inductees and their innovations will be showcased in the NIHF Museum in Alexandria, VA.

Inductees will also participate in NIHF educational programs and competitions that strive inspire and challenge the next generation of young inventors in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Since its founding in 1973, the NIHF has inducted more than 500 industry pioneers who have conceived, patented and advanced the greatest technological achievements in the United States.

(1) SanDisk was acquired by Western Digital Technologies, Inc. in 2016. After founding SanDisk, Dr. Harari served as CEO for 22 years.