'Father of Video Games' to Speak at Daniel Webster

Known as the "father of video games," Ralph Baer, 85, will speak April 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Daniel Webster College (Collings Auditorium) in Nashua, N.H. Among Baer's many inventions is the home console for video games, originally known as the Brown Box; it was later licensed to Magnavox and introduced in 1972 as Odyssey -- which was exhibited at the Smithsonian, among other museums. The receipient of numerous technology awards, including the National Medal of Technology, Baer is a Life Senior Member of IEEE. The German native escaped from his homeland with his family in 1938, two months before Kristallnacht. In the US, he graduated from the National Radio Institute, then was assigned to military intelligence at US Army headquarters in London. He became an engineer at Sanders Associates (now BAE Systems) in 1958, from which he retired. Baer and partner Bob Pelovitz, of MicroPROS Technology Solutions, have been inventing and marketing toy and game ideas since 1983. They also assist clients with overseas production engineering and manufacturing and with development and protection of intellectual property. For more information, call (603) 577-6625.