In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 20 May 1913
- Died
- 12 January 2001
- Birthplace
- Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
- Country
- United States
- Nationality
- Not independently established
- Known for
- Audio oscillators, Hewlett-Packard’s development and support for the HP-35 calculator
- Stanford
- AB/general engineering, 1934; electrical engineer degree, 1939
- MIT
- MS in electrical engineering, 1936
- HP partnership
- Founded with David Packard, 1939
- National Medal of Science
- 1983 award, presented 27 February 1985
Why this life matters
Hewlett’s contribution combined practical instrument design with an organisation that could develop and manufacture new products, and with philanthropy pursued alongside Flora Hewlett.
Timeline
Key moments
Birth
Born on 20 May in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Stanford graduation
Completed undergraduate engineering studies.
MIT master’s
Completed an electrical-engineering MS.
Partnership and further qualification
Co-founded HP and received Stanford’s electrical engineer degree.
Army service
Served in the United States Army during the Second World War.
HP presidency
Became president of the company.
Foundation established
He and Flora Hewlett established a philanthropic foundation.
HP-35 introduced
The scientific pocket calculator reached customers.
Science medal
Named a 1983 recipient; received the medal at the 1985 ceremony.
Death
Died on 12 January.
An engineering education at Stanford and MIT
William Redington Hewlett was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on 20 May 1913. His father was a physician and university teacher, and the family moved to California during his childhood. Hewlett entered Stanford, completing his undergraduate studies in 1934. He earned an electrical-engineering master’s degree at MIT in 1936 and returned to Stanford, where he received the electrical engineer degree in 1939. Stanford identifies the earlier qualification as an AB in general engineering. The later engineer qualification was distinct from a PhD; his many honorary degrees belong to a separate record of recognition.
A circuit and a partnership became a business
At Stanford, Frederick Terman encouraged Hewlett and fellow student David Packard to pursue electronics. Hewlett’s graduate work on a resistance-capacitance audio oscillator became an early commercial product when the two formed Hewlett-Packard in 1939. Their Palo Alto garage became a famous symbol, but the useful historical connection is between university training, a practicable instrument and a partnership capable of selling it. Stanford records Disney’s purchase of eight oscillators for work on Fantasia. That order was an early customer relationship, not evidence that the firm already possessed the later computer business associated with its name.
Military service interrupted his work at the company
Hewlett served in the United States Army from 1941 to 1945, working on the staff of the chief signal officer and in the New Development Division. He returned to a company Packard and its employees had continued to expand. His subsequent positions included vice-president, executive vice-president and president from 1964. The National Academy memoir remembers a manager who visited laboratories and encouraged engineers to work through problems. Its admiring tone is part of a commemorative account, however; it cannot establish that every workplace decision embodied an unchanging or universally successful management philosophy.
Sources for this section: [1]
Making scientific calculation portable
The HP-35, introduced on 4 January 1972, illustrates Hewlett’s later involvement in product direction. HP’s historical archive identifies the shirt-pocket requirement as his and preserves advertisements aimed directly at consumers. The technical achievement belonged to a team developing the electronics, algorithms, keys, display and manufacturable instrument. A Smithsonian collection record points readers to the contemporary Hewlett-Packard Journal article by Thomas Whitney, France Rodé and Chung Tung. Hewlett should therefore be described as a sponsor and product leader, without making him the sole inventor of every calculator component or numerical method.
Philanthropy was a family undertaking
Bill and Flora Hewlett established their foundation in 1966. The foundation’s own account attributes its creation to both of them and distinguishes their philanthropy from the companies bearing the Hewlett-Packard name. Its broad commitments to education, environmental work and the arts should not be assigned to Bill alone; Flora’s work is part of the institutional history. Hewlett’s personal papers also document civic, scientific and philanthropic engagements beyond his company. Those records make it possible to examine giving as a continuing set of decisions, rather than reading business success itself as proof of public benefit.
An award year and a presentation date
Hewlett received the National Medal of Science for engineering achievements in electronic and semiconductor devices and test instruments. NSF identifies him as a 1983 recipient and records presentation by President Ronald Reagan on 27 February 1985. Both dates are meaningful, and neither requires replacing the other. He died on 12 January 2001. The lasting record includes specific instruments, colleagues, the partnership with Packard, and institutions supported by the Hewlett family. Following these separate strands gives a more precise account than treating one founder as the origin of all subsequent Silicon Valley development.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about William Hewlett
- Was William Hewlett’s 1939 Stanford qualification a doctorate?
- No. Stanford identifies it as an electrical engineer degree, distinct from a PhD or his later honorary degrees.
- Did Hewlett design the HP-35 alone?
- No. He supplied product direction, including its pocket-size goal. The calculator required a technical team and manufacturing work.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- David Packard
Read his business partner’s engineering and management career.
- Walt Disney
Follow an early customer whose Fantasia production used HP audio oscillators.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. Robert J. Scully and Marlan O. Scully, National Academy of SciencesWilliam Redington Hewlett, 2004 biographical memoir
Downloaded complete 19-page memoir. Education, partnership, wartime service, management and chronology portions read. Its celebratory judgments are not treated as independently established outcomes. The education list distinguishes the 1939 engineer degree from an honorary doctorate.
- 2. Stanford UniversityWilliam Hewlett: Stanford Engineering Hero
- 3. Hewlett-Packard HistoryHP 35: Marketed to the Consumer
Company-owned archive states the 4 January 1972 introduction and Hewlett’s pocket-size direction. Team-level technical attribution is retained; no sole-inventor claim.
- 4. Smithsonian National Museum of American HistoryHP-35 handheld electronic calculator, object record and contemporary design-paper reference
- 5. William and Flora Hewlett FoundationAbout the foundation: founding in 1966 and institutional independence
- 6. Stanford University Archives via Online Archive of CaliforniaWilliam Hewlett papers, collection description
- 7. National Science FoundationWilliam R. Hewlett: award citation and presentation date
NSF controls the distinction between the 1983 award year and 27 February 1985 presentation. Some summaries collapse the two dates.
