Universal Display’s Dr. Julie Brown to Receive Prestigious USC Award

Universal Display announced that the University of Southern California (USC) will be honoring Dr. Julie Brown, UDC’s EVP and CTO, with the Daniel J. Epstein Engineering Management Award. The award, from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, recognizes Dr. Brown for her exemplary professional accomplishments and exceptional contributions to the field of engineering management.

“This award is a testament to Julie’s outstanding leadership and groundbreaking contributions that have not only propelled our Company forward, but have also revolutionized the OLED industry,” said Steven V. Abramson, president and CEO of Universal Display Corporation.

“Throughout her tenure with UDC, she has consistently demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to pushing the boundaries of technological innovation and driving transformative change,” Abramson added. “Julie has the ability to find unique solutions through her extensive expertise and by empowering those around her to collaborate and succeed. This award puts her name in a well-deserved place of honor, next to other titans of innovation who advance our understanding and test the limits of possibility.”

“It is wonderful that many of our smartphone displays today contain materials and technologies that arose from Dr. Brown’s efforts to bring modern, energy-efficient phosphorescent OLED materials and technology to market,” said Yannis C. Yortsos, Dean of the Viterbi School of Engineering. “We are thrilled to recognize Dr. Brown for her extraordinary work and substantial impact on the world through the power of engineering and technology.”

“I am deeply honored by this recognition and would like to thank all of those who have supported me on this journey, including Drs. Stephen Forrest and Mark Thompson, who discovered phosphorescent OLEDs,” said Dr. Julie Brown. “In fact, Dr. Forrest has been my valued mentor and friend spanning four decades. He was my professor at USC and helped me navigate my career path initially to Hughes Labs and then to Universal Display Corporation in 1998, where I would find my professional home and an opportunity to explore new realms of possibility.

“I’d also like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Steve Abramson, Sidney Rosenblatt, and our late founder Sherwin Seligsohn, who believed in me and what we could accomplish together. To my friends and colleagues at UDC, thank you for our strong partnership that has enabled the transformation of UDC’s vision and innovation into reality. Our collective journey of advancing energy-efficient OLEDs is still in its early chapters. Let’s continue to push the boundaries of science and business to further inspire work to better our world.”

Since joining Universal Display Corporation in 1998, Dr. Brown has been spearheading the R&D vision and roadmap for the company. She has driven and advanced UDC’s technical vision and excellence from its start-up years to firmly position the company as a leader in the discovery, development, and commercialization of state-of-the-art OLED technologies and phosphorescent materials.

Today, UDC’s materials and technology can be found in virtually every OLED consumer electronics device around the world.

In 2021, Dr. Brown was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for her contributions to materials and device technologies for phosphorescent light emitting diode displays, and their commercialization. Dr. Brown is an elected IEEE Fellow, elected SID Fellow, and inductee into the New Jersey High Tech Hall of Fame. Prior to joining UDC, Dr. Brown worked at Hughes Research Laboratories, Raytheon Company and AT&T Bell Laboratories.