Hiroshi Amano
His persistent work on growing gallium nitride crystals in a Nagoya lab was the crucial breakthrough that gave the world bright blue light.
Born 1960 (age 66)·Japanese electronics engineer·Birthday: September 11·Baby Boomers
Biography
Hiroshi Amano's story is one of meticulous, foundational science. As a graduate student at Nagoya University under Isamu Akasaki, he took on a problem many considered a dead end: creating high-quality crystals of gallium nitride, a material promising for blue light but notoriously difficult to work with. In a modest, often sparsely-equipped lab, Amano's breakthrough came not from high-tech tools but from clever application of a simple metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy system. He succeeded where others had failed, laying the crystalline groundwork that would eventually enable the first high-brightness blue LED. This invention, completed with Shuji Nakamura, sparked a lighting revolution. Amano, a quiet and dedicated academic, continued his research in semiconductor materials, his Nobel Prize affirming the world-changing impact of patient, fundamental discovery.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Hiroshi was born in 1960, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Hiroshi Was Born
The biggest hits of 1960
#1 Movie
Swiss Family Robinson
Best Picture
The Apartment
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Hiroshi's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1960Born
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1965Started school
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1973Became a teenager
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1976Could drive
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1978Could vote
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1981Turned 21
MTV launches; first Space Shuttle flight; AIDS identified
Gas: $1.31/galHome: $52,300Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Bette Davis Eyes" — Kim CarnesBest Picture: Chariots of Fire
1990Turned 30
Hubble Space Telescope launched; Germany reunifies
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.80/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Hold On" — Wilson PhillipsBest Picture: Dances with Wolves
2000Turned 40
Y2K passes without incident; contested Bush-Gore election
Gas: $1.51/galHome: $119,600Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Breathe" — Faith HillBest Picture: Gladiator
2010Turned 50
Deepwater Horizon oil spill; iPad launched
Gas: $2.79/galHome: $147,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Tik Tok" — KeshaBest Picture: The King's Speech
2020Turned 60
COVID-19 pandemic shuts down the world
Gas: $2.17/galHome: $248,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Blinding Lights" — The WeekndBest Picture: Nomadland
2026Age 66 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics, shared with Isamu Akasaki and Shuji Nakamura, for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes.
- Pioneered the low-temperature buffer layer technology that was essential for growing high-quality gallium nitride crystals.
- Served as a professor and director at the Center for Integrated Research of Future Electronics at Nagoya University.
- Received the Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy for his contributions to the blue LED technology.
Did You Know?
He reportedly conducted many of his pivotal experiments late at night when the lab's power supply was most stable.
The Nobel Prize announcement reached him while he was eating lunch at a university cafeteria.
He initially wanted to study archaeology or Japanese history before choosing engineering.
“I want young researchers to understand that not everything goes well in research. It’s important to face difficulties and overcome them.”
