Victor Houk
SSI Hall Of Fame: 2004
Career Highlights
- Before joining RCA in late 1940s, served in U.S. Army Signal Corp. in Communication Security
- Earned undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Univ. of Tennessee
- Received graduate degree from MIT in industrial management
- Began CCTV career in 1972 as director of marketing and sales for new RCA department
- Left RCA in 1985, shortly before it was bought by GE
- Joined American Dynamics (AD) as VP of marketing and sales
- In early 1990s, AD bought by Sensormatic
- Left Sensormatic in 1995 to start Vision Research
Why He’s on the List
- Dubbed “The Father of U.S. CCTV”
- In 1970, recommended CCTV as business with major growth opportunity to RCA
- In face of strong Japanese competition, grew RCA’s CCTV division to largest U.S. supplier of CCTV equipment
- Helped develop reliable equipment, including time-lapse recorder based on VHS technology
- In 1992, received first Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service from Closed Circuit Television Manufacturers Association
Comments & Reaction: “I appreciate this opportunity from SSI to give my overview of the industry as I will soon be leaving active participation in the industry, which I married at its infancy, 33 years ago.”
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