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Honorary Membership and the Honor Roll

Honorary Membership is the Society’s highest accolade. It recognizes individuals who have performed distinguished service in the advancement of engineering in motion pictures, television, or in the allied arts and sciences. Honorary Members who have passed away are named to the SMPTE Honor Roll, which also posthumously recognizes individuals who were not awarded Honorary Membership during their lifetimes but whose contributions would have been sufficient to warrant such an honor.

John Dykstra - Honorary Member 2026

John Dykstra, ASC, in recognition of more than four decades of contributions to motion picture imaging engineering. He is widely regarded as a founding figure in modern motion picture visual effects. Dykstra is best known for establishing modern motion control. He led the team at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) that developed the Dykstraflex camera system. This custom rig enabled precisely repeatable, computer-controlled camera movements, transforming visual effects compositing. The system he pioneered in a Van Nuys warehouse in 1975 established a direct line to the motion-control photography, digital compositing, and visual effects pipelines used throughout Hollywood today.

Henry Mahler - Honor Roll 2026

Henry (Hank) Mahler, in recognition of his extraordinary engineering leadership and innovation across broadcast audio, color television, sports production, and high-definition imaging. At CBS Laboratories, he helped develop key broadcast audio and video systems, including Audimax and VoluMax. He helped create one of the first slow-motion and stop-action video systems, contributed to Emmy Award-winning digital video technologies, and developed the SMPTE color bars, enduring reference for color calibration. His work included the Apollo 14 color moon camera effort, the CBS Action Track system sports broadcasting system, and CBS’s HDTV service. Mahler’s research helped shape modern television technology.

SMPTE Honorary Members

Ioan Allen (2024)

Victoria Alonso (2024)

Franz Kraus (2024)

Philipp Lawo (2023)

Ang Lee (2022)

Christopher J. Cookson (2021)

Peter Jackson (2021)

John L.E. Baldwin (2000)

Stanley N. Baron (2010)

James Cameron (2016)

Leonardo Chiariglione (2014)

Ian Childs (2010)

Richard Edlund (2020)

Reed Hastings (2020)

Paul Kellar (2019)

George Lucas (2014)

Masahiko Morizono (1994)

John D. Ross (2020)

William H. Smith (1998)

Roderick Snell (2019)

Laurence J. Thorpe (2015)

The Honor Roll

2026 - Henry Mahler

Victor H. Allen (1975)

Charles E. Anderson (2012)

Thomas Armat (1935)

John Logie Baird (2014)

Joseph Arthur Ball (1953)

Julius Barnathan (1997)

K. Blair Benson (1991)

Walter Bruch (1989)

Marvin C. Camras (1990)

John C. Capstaff (1955)

Theodore W. Case (1946)

George W. Colburn (1987)

Jeofry Stuart Courtney-Pratt (1974)

John I. Crabtree (1965)

Edward B. Craft (1946)

Andre Debrie (1955)

LeRoy E. DeMarsh (1999)

Herman A. DeVry (1941)

W. K. L. Dickson (1933)    

Walt Disney (1955)

Ray M. Dolby (1992)

Linwood G. Dunn (1984)

George Eastman (1928)

Harold E. Edgerton (1968)

Thomas Alva Edison (1928)

Elmer W. Engstron (1966)

Alexander Ernemann (1956)

Ralph M. Evans (1973)

Philo Taylor Farnsworth (1996)

Joseph A. Flaherty (1993)

Harvey Fletcher (1959)

Charles R. Fordyce (1984)

Lee de Forest (1940)

John G. Frayne (1967)

William Friese-Greene (1931)

Leon Gaumont (1946)

Charles P. Ginsberg (1976)

Peter C. Goldmark (1977)

Alfred N. Goldsmith (1961)

Oscar B. Hanson (2015)

Wesley T. Hanson, Jr. (1979)    

Albert S. Howell (1941) 

Frederick Eugene Ives (1928)

Charles H. Jablonski (2022)

C. Francis Jenkins (1926)

Herbert T. Kalmus (1958)

Edward W. Kellogg (1950)

Stefan Kudelski (1988)

Eugene Augustin Lauste (1931)

Louis A. A. Le Prince (1931)

Jean Acme LeRoy (1931)

Nathan Levinson (1953)

Louis Lumiere (1928)

Henry Mahler (2026)

Kenneth M. Mason (1981)

John A. Maurer (1978)

Renville “Ren” H. McMann Jr.​ (2017)

C.E. Kenneth Mees (1957)

Pierre Mertz (1971)

Oskar Messter (1960)

George A. Mitchell (1971)

Albert Narath (1969)

Robert W. Paul (1937)

Edwin S. Porter (1941)

Kerns H. Powers (1995)

Frederick M. Remley Jr. (1991)

Frank H. Richardson (1944)

Robert Richter (1972)

Rodger J. Ross (1989)

Loren L. Ryder (1980)

David Sarnoff (2021)

Michael J. Sherlock (1997)

Max Skladanowsky (1970)

Robert M. Smith (1996)

Sidney P. Solow (1981)

Earl I. Sponable (1957)

Charles A. Steinberg (2018)

Kenjiro Takayanagi (1988)

Lloyd Thompson (1962)

Alexander F. Victor (1964)

Samuel L. Warner (1946)

William T. Wintringham (1977)

Irwin Young (2015)

Roland J. Zavada (1995)

Vladimir K. Zworykin (1950)