Photo of Victor B. Lawrence

Victor B. Lawrence

  • National Medal of Technology and Innovation
  • Communications

For a lifetime of prolific innovation in telecommunications and high-speed internet technology. Victor Lawrence has dedicated his life to expanding the realm of possibilities worldwide. By bringing fiber-optic connectivity to the African continent and improving global internet accessibility, he has enhanced the security, opportunity, and well-being of people around the world.

Victor B. Lawrence was Vice President of Advanced Technologies at Bell Laboratories and now a professor at Stevens Institute of Technology. Over his 50-year career, he contributed to modem design, DSL technology, ATM and IP switching, digital video and audio, and submarine fiber optic cable as both an architect and technical leader.
In the mid-1970’s, Dr. Lawrence’s seminal work improved digital filter design, inventing bias-less rounding arithmetic, used in DSP chips to suppress oscillations and stabilize filters. His innovations facilitated the transition of the communications industry from analog to digital and pioneered the field of digital signal processing, leading to many applications.

His work impacted the evolution of telecommunications, from early low-speed (300 bps) to today’s high-speed (Gbps) data transmission, contributing to the widespread adoption of the Internet and mobile technologies. He was the first to demonstrate the technical feasibility of full-duplex data modems over international networks leading to ITU standards. These advances led to low-cost, global data communications and early access to the Internet in the 1990s.

Dr. Lawrence led Bell Labs teams that developed digital video technologies, HDTV, video encoding and decoding chips used in many TVs, laptops, and smartphones. His work on high-speed modem/fax chipsets was used in voice terminals for secure communications. He led the development of the U.S. Government’s Future Secure Voice System (FSVS) terminal, which was used for communications between the President and senior military officials.

Since 1995, Lawrence has championed the effort to bring fiber optic connectivity from the US to every coastal country in Africa, improving Internet connectivity in the continent.

Dr. Lawrence authored over 100 technical papers, co-authored five books, and holds 50 patents. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a winner of the Primetime Emmy Award, and an inductee to the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He obtained his B.Sc., D.I.C., and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from University of London, Imperial College.

Arati Prabhakar, Ph.D., Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), awards Victor B. Lawrence the National Medal of Technology and Innovation during an awards ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, January 3, 2025. Photo by Ryan K. Morris