November 3, 2005, Palo Alto, CA--Alfred P. Hildebrand, who led the team at Spectra-Physics Lasers (Mountain View, CA) that created the bar-code scanner, died of cancer at his home here on October 20, according to an article in the San Jose Mercury News.
Hildebrand, a recognized leader in optical technology, co-founded a number of companies including Silicon Light Machines (Sunnyvale, CA), Biomolecular Separations (Reno, NV), Laser Automation (Chagrin Falls, OH) and Inviso (Miami Lakes, FL). From 1996 to 1991, he worked at Spectra-Physics where he attained the position of senior vice president. He also served on more than 10 boards, including Matrix Integrated Systems (Richmond, CA), SDL (San Jose, CA), 3D Systems (Valencia, CA), Ampro (San Jose, CA), Iridigm (San Francisco, CA) and C Speed (Santa Clara, CA).
Hildebrand earned a BS in physics from Stanford University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. A memorial service is planned for November 20 at Stanford University, according to the San Jose Mercury News. And contributions toward liver cancer research may be sent to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, P.O. Box 4486, Houston, TX 77210-4486.