The Alice Paul Merit Award: S. Merrill Weiss ’65, a pioneer in the development of digital and high definition television

Merrill Weiss, Class of 1965, was recognized by the Alumni Association with the Alice Paul Merit Award for his pioneering work in digital and high-definition television technology.

Merrill has received all of the highest accolades in his field – and it started with a two-tube radio kit his father gave him when he was six years old.

An alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, he began his career at Philadelphia radio station WIP, WHYY-TV (Channel 12), and KYW Newsradio and TV. Early on, Merrill became involved with the Working Group on Digital Video Systems with The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. He has spent his whole career on the leading edge of that technology.

Later, at KPIX in San Francisco, standards he helped develop became the foundation for practically all digital video up until the present. Eventually he came to manage system engineering at NBC, and from there, started his own consulting business. His clients have ranged from Wall Street investment bankers to major Hollywood studios.

He has had a career in broadcast technology of more than 50 years, and has been the leader in writing standards for digital television for more than 40 years. He holds a number of U.S. and international patents on transmission technology and is widely published in his field.

Merrill, who is loyally involved with the Class of 1965, credits many of his teachers from Friends with helping him succeed, including Social Studies Teacher Cully Miller, who mentored him in the Audio-Visual Operators Club, Math Teacher Neil Hartman and English Teacher Jean Ricketts, whom he believes helped him to be a better writer and communicator than some of his engineering peers. Little did those teachers know that they were nurturing the talents of one of the giants of 21st century television innovation.

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