The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) honored the 2005 Class of Inductees into its CE Hall of Fame at a dinner during its Industry Forum here last week.
Among the honorees present for the awards’ ceremony were Dr. Joseph Donahue, respected engineer and key member of the “Grand Alliance” that developed U.S. HDTV standards; industry icon Harry Elias, who spent 37 yeas with JVC establishing that company as a vital U.S. CE brand; veteran electronics retail innovator Jack Luskin, who opened his first store in the Baltimore area in 1948; and Saul Gold, who for 30 years lead one of the largest and most influential retail buying groups, the NATM Buying Corporation. Another great industry retailer was honored, Ken Crane, who died last year and was a 50-year CE retailer in the Southern California area. His award was accepted by his children who now run his eponymous business, Casey and Pam Crane.
Other CE luminaries who were honored included George Fezell, the innovative Magnavox executive of the 1950s and 1960s; Hewlett Packard’s founders William Hewlett and David Packard; Masuharu Matsushita, who helped build the Panasonic brand into a worldwide CE force for over 40 years; John Winegard, an entrepreneur who among other inventions came up with the “yagi” outdoor TV antenna; and legendary trade and consumer editor and journalist Art Levis.
