PASADENA, Calif.- These days it's become routine for cable and satellite television to give a viewer a choice of 50 or more channels to watch. In the near future, though, it's expected that number will leap to 500. Putting aside what 500 channels could do to your brain, the question then becomes how to find out what's on, and when.
Henry Yuen has provided the answer. The 1973 California Institute of Technology graduate (Ph.D. in applied mathematics) developed the on-screen television program guides already in use on most such systems. Now Yuen will bring his original thinking to his new position as a member of Caltech's Board of Trustees.
Yuen is the chairman and chief executive officer of Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc., in Pasadena, not far from the Caltech campus. He cofounded its predecessor, Gemstar International Group, Ltd., in 1989, after wrestling with a dilemma most of us have faced—programming a VCR.
In 1988, Yuen tried to tape a game of his favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox. In spite of his Caltech Ph.D. and a J.D. from Loyola University Law School (Yuen is a member of the State Bar of California), when he went to watch the game, he found that all he had recorded was a screenful of snow. Instead of simply shaking his head in frustration like the rest of us, Yuen invented the new technology called VCR Plus+. Still in use today, it's the nearly foolproof way of recording shows by punching in a number next to a particular program that's listed in most television guides.
Prior to Gemstar, Yuen was a research scientist and technical fellow at TRW, Inc., held faculty positions at Caltech and New York University, and practiced law in California for over 10 years.
Yuen has maintained his ties to Caltech. In 1999, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from Caltech. Yuen sponsors the annual Program for Law and Technology, a joint academic venture between Caltech and Loyola Law School of Los Angeles. The program brings scientists and lawyers together to explore new developments on issues of mutual importance, especially as they relate to emerging technologies. It also brings renowned academics and leaders from industry and government to both campuses several times a year for workshops and lectures. Past speakers have included former Senator Gary Hart and Judge Richard A. Posner of the United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.