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Medal for Fossum

Alumnus and former Trinity College Trustee Eric Fossum ’79, H’14 received Trinity College’s first President’s Medal for Science and Innovation during the Spring Bicentennial Symposium: Reflection and Action on February 28, 2024.

Fossum is the inventor of the CMOS image sensor “camera on a chip” used in almost all smartphones and webcams, as well as in medical imaging and more. He is the John H. Krehbiel Sr. Professor for Emerging Technologies in the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, where he also serves as director of Thayer’s Ph.D. Innovation Program and vice provost for entrepreneurship and technology transfer.

President Joanne Berger-Sweeney presents the first President’s Medal for Science and Innovation to Eric Fossum ’79, H’14 during a ceremony held during the Spring Bicentennial Symposium on February 28, 2024.

“Since our founding in 1823, Trinity College has been proud of its commitment to the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in a liberal arts environment,” said President Joanne Berger-Sweeney. To highlight the significance of the sciences at Trinity during the College’s Bicentennial year, Berger-Sweeney—a neuroscientist herself—created the President’s Medal for Science and Innovation. The medal recognizes a prominent, internationally renowned individual in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics who has influenced STEM with marked success and who represents the liberal arts ideal of empowering humanity through the sciences.

Fossum majored in physics and engineering at Trinity and went on to earn an M.S. and a Ph.D. in engineering and applied science from Yale University. Fossum worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology and is a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the National Academy of Engineering.

As a self-described serial entrepreneur, Fossum co-founded Photobit Corporation in 1995 and later served as chairman and CEO of Siimpel Corporation and as a consultant with Samsung Electronics. He more recently co-founded and chaired the Dartmouth spinoff Gigajot Technology. In recognition of his work, Fossum has won numerous awards, including 2017’s prestigious Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, considered by many as engineering’s Nobel Prize. He also has published more than 330 technical papers and holds more than 180 U.S. patents.

A symposium audience member takes a smartphone photo thanks to the technology invented by Fossum.

Fossum is a former member of Trinity’s Board of Trustees and has returned to campus over the years to speak to students about science, technology, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Trinity awarded him an honorary doctor of science degree in 2014.

The ceremony presenting the inaugural medal to Fossum also featured the Presidential Distinguished Lecture by 2023 National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal recipient and University of Maryland, Baltimore County President Emeritus Freeman A. Hrabowski III.

Earlier in the day, Fossum took part in a conversation with Shirley M. Malcom, senior adviser and director of SEA Change at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Photos by Nick Caito