Series III. Sterling P. Newberry Papers, 1945-2005, undated

Sterling P. Newberry (1915-2017) was an American microscopist, inventor, corporate executive, and a Charter Member of the Microscopy Society of America. Born in Springfield, Missouri on August 10, 1915, Newberry earned his B.S. degree with majors in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology from Drury College (1937) and his M.S. in Physics from Washington University (1940). As a graduate student at Washington University, he built the first transmission electron microscope (TEM) in the United States to achieve better resolution that a light microscope (1938). After receiving his M.S. degree, he worked at Olin Corporation (1940-1947), where he rose to the position of Head of Physics Research.

In 1947, Newberry went to work at General Electric Laboratories in Schenectady, New York (1947-1969). At General Electric, he designed an electrostatic transmission electron microscope which was never marketed. In 1954, in collaboration with Selby E. Summers, he designed the first commercial X-ray microscope, whose resolution was comparable to a light microscope. While at General Electric, Newberry also worked on computer technology. Seeing a need for a fast, high-density small-size memory, he designed the “fly’s eye” electron beam accessed memory, which he introduced at the AFIPS Joint Computer Conference in 1966.

Wishing to further develop the “fly’s eye” electron beam accessed memory concept, Newberry left General Electric in 1969 to found Micro-Bit Corporation, a computer technology firm based in Lexington, Massachusetts. Under Newberry’s oversight, Micro-Bit designed and manufactured a commercial version of the “fly’s eye” electron beam accessed memory. The firm grew under Newberry’s leadership, eventually employing a staff of around 70. During the late 1970s, Micro-Bit became a division of Control Data Corporation.

Newberry retired from Micro-Bit in 1984. After retiring from Micro-Bit, Newberry founded CBI Labs, a private laboratory based in Schenectady, New York. At CBI, he continued his research and development work on x-ray microscopy into his 80s.

Sterling P. Newberry was a Charter Member of the Microscopy Society of America, contributing to the society throughout his career. He was particularly active in the society’s 50th Anniversary activities, which included conducting video interviews of a number of society members. He also authored the society’s commemorative volume EMSA and Its People: The First Fifty Years, which was published in 1992. Newberry was also awarded several patents over the course of his career.

Sterling P. Newberry passed away on January 28, 2017.

This series contains the professional and personal papers of Sterling P. Newberry, which he donated to the Microscopy Society of America. The materials in this series mainly concern Newberry’s tenure with Micro-Bit Corporation. A limited amount of materials regarding his tenure with General Electric Company and his personal activities are also found here. The contents of the Sterling P. Newberry Papers are arranged into the following seven sub-series: