George Heilmeier, a 69-year-old American, invented the prototype of LCD. In a press release, the kazuo inamori Foundation said that Heiermeier "made a pioneering contribution to the realization of flat panel displays using liquid crystals" and was awarded this year's Kyoto Prize. Heiermeier is now the honorary director of Telcordia, a famous communication company in New Jersey, USA. In 1960s, he first applied LCD to the display field and developed a prototype of LCD.