HARRY F. MANBECK JR.
HARRY F. MANBECK JR. 1990-1992
Harry F. Manbeck Jr., was born in Honesdale, Pennsylvania on June 26, 1926. He received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Lehigh University and was hired as an engineer by General Electric Co. in 1949. A few years later he received a law degree from the University of Louisville and became a GE patent attorney.
He rose through the ranks at GE, a company with a large patent department, to become the chief patent counsel, a position he would hold for 20 years. During that period he was a prolific, well-known speaker on intellectual property rights.
President George H.W. Bush appointed Manbeck assistant secretary of commerce and commissioner of patents and trademarks, and he took the oath of office on March 12, 1990.