Greg Blonder (in 1998)

Greg Blonder is Entrepreneur in Residence at AT&T Ventures. Mr. Blonder joined AT&T in 1982,  studying superconductivity and the quantum phenomena of semiconductor materials. Much of this research has resulted in practical applications and he holds over 50 patents in the areas of optical  disk recording, integrated fiber optic devices, displays, computer systems and improved user interfaces.

In 1987 he was promoted to head of the Photonics and Electronics Research Department, and then in 1991 to director of the Materials and Technology Integration Research Laboratory. In 1992 he assumed the additional responsibility of Chief Technical Advisor for Corporate Strategy and  Development, where he was involved in selecting technical and business strategies for AT&T. In 1995, recognizing the need to focus Bell Labs research activities closer to consumer markets, he started the Customer Expectations Research Lab. This lab tries to understand human behavior through a variety of statistical and cognitive techniques- and then relate those needs to future products and services. His personal research was divided between discovering  compelling new services and inventing new classes of consumer electronics devices (such as the AT&T Wrist Telephone). In January 1998 he decided to leave AT&T Labs, and follow some of these ideas through to the marketplace by joining AT&T Ventures.

Mr. Blonder attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) where his undergraduate  thesis was on phase transitions in liquid crystals. He received his MS and Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University in 1982.