IBM, Gerstner Among National Medal Of Technology Winners

Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM Corp. and CEO Louis V. Gerstner Jr. will collect the company medal when the 2000 National Medal of Technology winners gather in Washington, D.C., later this month. An individual medal will go to Douglas C. Engelbart of the Bootstrap Institute, Atherton, Calif., for laying the foundation of personal computing while at Stanford Research Institute during the 1960s. Another individual medal will be awarded to Dean Kamen, the founder of DEKA Research & Development Corp., Manchester, N.H., for advances in medical care. Donald B. Keck, Robert D. Maurer, and Peter C. Schultz will receive the team medal for their invention of low-loss optical fiber while at Corning Inc. in the 1970s. Established by Congress in 1980, the National Medal of Technology is the highest U.S. honor for technical achievement and has been awarded annually since 1985.