The Charles Townes Award honors an individual whose leadership and vision exemplify an exceptional contribution to technology or community advancement.
South Carolina’s premier organization dedicated to the advancement of innovation and technology.
The Charles Townes Award honors an individual whose leadership and vision exemplify an exceptional contribution to technology or community advancement.
The InnoVision Advisory Board’s highest honor, the Dr. Charles Townes Individual Achievement Award, is named after Greenville native and Nobel laureate Dr. Charles Townes. He’s one of only three individuals, alongside the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa, to have been awarded both the Nobel Prize in Physics (1964) and the Templeton Prize (2005).
This award acknowledges individuals who’ve made sustained contributions to technology and community advancement in South Carolina.
2025 Rob Cheng – PC Matic
2024 Stewart Spinks – Spinx Co
2023 Amy Robichaud
2022 Lou Kennedy, CEO Nephron Pharmaceuticals
2021 Dr. Martine LeBerge
2020 Dr. Shalaby Shalaby, founder of Poly-Med
2019 William B. (Bill) Sturgis
2017 Bill Cobb
2016 Dennis Hayes
2015 Tyler Wrenn
2014 Dr. Larry Gluck, Medical Director of GHS Cancer Center
2013 Henry Schimer
2012 Steve Johnson
2011 Roger Milliken
2010 Jerry Barber
2009 Tom Strange
2008 Ted Mueller
2007 Dr. Caron St. John
2006 Jerry Cogan
2005 Max Heller
2004 Dr. Chris Przirembel
2003 Tom Hartness
2002 Larry G. Blackwell
2001 John D. Hollingsworth, Jr.
1999 Dr. Thomas Goldsmith