EBU Technical Review : No. 272 (Summer 1997)
Parting of the Waters
It is difficult to imagine an EBU without George T. Waters. He retired from the post of Director of the Technical Department at the end of May 1997 and will return to Dublin, Ireland, after over eleven years leading the EBU's technical activities.
George Waters has been involved in broadcasting for 40 years. He completed a seven-year term as Director General of RTE, Ireland's national broadcasting organization, before joining the EBU at the beginning of 1986.
A man of letters, George holds an Honours Degree in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, graduating from University College, Dublin in 1956. He also holds a Masters Degree (Honours) in Business Administration (1967) and was awarded the Sir Charles Harvey Award for Business Studies in that year. In 1990, he was awarded a Doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin for his thesis on high-definition television.
Dr Waters has always been actively engaged in international broadcasting and was formerly a Director of the International Council of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (USA), and a Vice-President of the European Broadcasting Union. In the technical world, he is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland, a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers of the UK, a Fellow of the Irish Management Institute, and a Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) of the USA.
In September 1993, George Waters was appointed President of the International Academy of Broadcasting (IAB), a post-graduate school in Montreux which he had been instrumental in setting up.
In October 1993, Dr Waters received the 1993 SMPTE Presidential Proclamation and, in September 1996, he was the winner of the IBC John Tucker Award for his lifelong contribution to broadcasting.
George has spent his career in broadcasting. He has taken part in a thousand meetings, brokered many an agreement, provided inspiration for his staff, and been a mine of ideas for improving broadcasting. He has been a champion for HDTV, which undoubtedly will be the future of television.
George's personal qualities are among his most remarkable features. It really is impossible to find anyone in broadcasting who does not like and respect George T. Waters. Many have been personally helped by George during their careers.
This alone would mark a successful career, but George can claim much more. Not least, he moved the EBU Technical Centre from its earlier home in Brussels to Geneva. Moving an organization within a country would be difficult enough. George did much more than that.
He leaves behind a solid legacy of synergies between EBU departments, individuals, and member organizations.
According to the Greek philosopher Cato, retirement is "a cessation of work not accompanied by a cessation of expenses". With George's energy, the first of Cato's requirements will not be true either. We wish him and his wife, Mary, a great deal of health and happiness in retirement.
Philip Laven
Director
EBU Technical Department
European Broadcasting Union
