SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a global leader in flash storage solutions, announced that President Obama has further distinguished Dr. Eli Harari, founder and retired chairman & CEO of SanDisk, with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. This award is the United States’ highest honor recognizing achievement and leadership in advancing the fields of science and technology.
“These scholars and innovators have expanded our understanding of the world, made invaluable contributions to their fields, and helped improve countless lives,” President Obama said in Washington Friday in announcing the recipients. “Our nation has been enriched by their achievements and by all the scientists and technologists across America dedicated to discovery, inquiry, and invention.”
Dr. Harari’s vision for SanDisk and flash memory began more than 26 years ago. Throughout the years flash memory innovations have transformed and enabled new markets and devices from digital photography to USB drives to smart phones, tablets, and thin-and-light notebooks. Today, SanDisk is bringing flash memory to enterprise storage and transforming the data center by helping enterprises achieve high performance, low-latency data access and scalability. Flash memory is on track to become the most widely used memory technology in the world over the next decade.
“We’re now connected in ways that would not be possible without the technologies that Eli helped pioneer and we’re well positioned to take on new market segments such as enterprise data centers,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of SanDisk. “Eli has had a profound impact on the entire technology landscape, and in doing so, has truly changed the world as we experience it today. His lifelong intellectual and technical achievements are well-deserving of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.”
The history of how flash storage was invented, developed, and made available on a global scale is largely the history of SanDisk Corporation — an American success story that like many others began with one person and a vision. However, what distinguished this into a remarkable story is how Dr. Harari continuously played multifaceted roles over a span of 23 years as inventor, entrepreneur, leader, public company CEO, and industry visionary. From a Silicon Valley start-up in 1988, SanDisk now employs more than 8,000 people worldwide, has over 5,000 patents and $6.5 billion in annual sales.
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation was created by statute in 1980 and is administered for the White House by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Patent and Trademark Office. The award recognizes pioneers who have made lasting contributions to America’s competitiveness, quality of life, and have helped strengthen the nation’s technological workforce.
About SanDisk
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company, is a global leader in flash storage solutions. For more than 26 years, SanDisk has expanded the possibilities of storage, providing trusted and innovative products that have transformed the electronics industry. Today, SanDisk’s quality, state-of-the-art solutions are at the heart of many of the world’s largest data centers, and embedded in advanced smartphones, tablets and PCs. SanDisk’s consumer products are available at hundreds of thousands of retail stores worldwide.
For more information, visit www.sandisk.com