Lester F. Eastman

Lester Fuess Eastman (May 21, 1928 – August 9, 2013) was an American physicist, engineer and educator.

Eastman worked primarily with the development of high frequency semiconductor device engineering and science technologies from the early 1960s through to his retirement.

Early years Lester (Les) F. Eastman was born in Utica New York on May 21, 1928 upon the USS Coral Sea.

Whilst at Cornell University, he was awarded in 2001 the status of Fellow of the American Physical Society after being nominated by their Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics for pioneering contributions to the concepts of ballistic transport and piezoelectric doping in ultra-small III-V heterojunction transistors for applications in high-speed and microwave power devices and circuits and for leadership in transitioning electric.

The IEEE EDS Lester F. Eastman Award was established in 2019 with the intention to commemorate the life activities of Lester F. Eastman whose distinguished contributions, particularly in the physics and technology of compound semiconductor materials and devices; invented, fabricated, and investigated many novel semiconductor materials and devices. His work on so many occasions resulted in breakthroughs enabling important practical applications.

Notable students The following is an incomplete list of his notable graduate students: Theda M. Daniels-Race – Distinguished Professor in the Division of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Louisiana State University Donald Kerr – Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory Umesh K. Mishra – Donald W. Whittier Chair in Electrical Engineering, UCSB David Welch – Cofounder of Infinera Corporation Jerry Woodall – Professor, UC Davis; National Academy of Engineering, member