Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr, inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014, led an extraordinary life as an inventor and famous actress. Originally from Austria, she fled her controlling husband, an arms manufacturer with Nazi ties, and moved to America. During World War II, Lamarr used her technical knowledge to collaborate with composer George Antheil to invent frequency hopping technology. The concept was to change a radio signal’s frequency often during a message transmission to minimize the impact of jamming by the enemy. She and Antheil worked out a way to synchronize the listening device’s frequency with the transmitter’s changing frequency. This innovation, initially intended for secure torpedo communication, later became crucial for wireless technologies like cell phones, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and streaming. Recognition for Lamarr’s contributions to wireless communications did not come until the 1990s. Today, the Hedy Lamarr Innovation Award recognizes women “who have made a significant impact in the field of entertainment technology.”