We'll be adding five more names to the Light Reading Hall of Fame in November. Let us know who you'd pick

Craig Matsumoto, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

July 31, 2012

2 Min Read
Vote for LR's Hall of Fame

The Light Reading Hall of Fame will add five more names this year, and we'd like your input on selecting them.

We've suggested some names, below. Your job is to rank them by dragging and dropping them with your mouse.

We chose this method of polling for two reasons:

  1. It allows readers to show support for multiple candidates, allowing for a wider, more statistically accurate sampling of opinions

  2. It looks so cool



So, take the poll below, justify your answers on the message boards -- and, while you're at it, feel free to suggest write-in candidates. Better yet, nominate your favorite by going to the Leading Lights entry page: lightreading.com/leadinglights.



If you're wondering who these people are, here's a glimpse of our thinking:

  • Matt Bross: He took vendors' pre-IPO stock at Williams; he led 21CN at BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA), and now he's putting an American spin on Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. A man for all seasons.

  • John D'Ambrosia: He's been instrumental in shepherding Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. (IEEE) high-speed Ethernet standards since 10Gbit/s counted as "high speed," and he's the point man for early Terabit Ethernet work.

  • Stuart Elby: He helped lead Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) toward its next-generation optical network and is now pushing the carrier toward software-defined networking.

  • Richard Frenkiel: While at Bell Labs , he helped create the AMPS cellular networking system.

  • Jack Grubman: A research analyst at Salomon Smith Barney, Grubman became a central figure in the investigation of investment-bank ethics.

  • David Huber: CEO of Corvis, a poster child for the optical bubble circa 1999.

  • Irwin Jacobs: Chairman of Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM), but nominated here for his role in creating CDMA.

  • Donald Keck: At Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW), he was instrumental in developing low-loss optical fiber -- optical networking's equivalent to the discovery of fire.

  • Drew Perkins/Dave Welch: Infinera Corp. (Nasdaq: INFN) gave DWDM systems a radical reboot by taking advantage of semiconductor integration. (We're still debating which of these two to nominate.)

  • Rob Pullen: A 30-year veteran of Tellabs Inc. (Nasdaq: TLAB; Frankfurt: BTLA), Pullen was an excellent choice to become the face of the company as CEO. He passed away in early July and will be missed.

  • Richard Snelling: BellSouth executive who pushed for fiber-optic deployments starting in the late 1980s.

  • Ren Zhengfei: Founder of Huawei -- and yes, we know "Ren" is his family name, but it looked nice having the two "Z" people next to each other here.

  • Niklas Zennstrom: Founder of Skype, now working 4G angles with FreedomPop.



— Craig Matsumoto, Managing Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Craig Matsumoto

Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

Yes, THAT Craig Matsumoto – who used to be at Light Reading from 2002 until 2013 and then went away and did other stuff and now HE'S BACK! As Editor-in-Chief. Go Craig!!

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