William Hittinger was RCA Executive Vice President of Research and Engineering over RCA Laboratories and the VideoDisc project during a portion of the design phase of the CED system.

William C. Hittinger graduated from Lehigh University in 1944 with a B.S. degree in Metallurgical Engineering. He was awarded the Doctor of Engineering degree by Lehigh in 1974. Following service in World War II, Mr. Hittinger joined Western Electric Company in 1946 as a Materials Engineer. After two years with the National Union Radio Corporation, where he served as Production Manager of its Semiconductor Division, he joined Bell Telephone Laboratories as a member of its technical staff. In 1959, he was named Director of its Semiconductor Device Laboratory and in 1962 became Executive Director of its Semiconductor Device and Electron Tube Division. In 1966, he was elected President of Bellcomm, Inc., a company jointly owned by American Telephone and Telegraph Company and Western Electric Company which was engaged in systems engineering for NASA's manned spaceflight program. Mr. Hittinger held the post of President of General Instrument Corporation from 1968 to 1970, at which time he joined RCA as Vice President and General Manager of the Solid State Division. After becoming Executive Vice President in 1972, he also assumed responsibility for RCA Consumer Electronics. In 1974, Mr. Hittinger was given the additional responsibility of RCA Electronic Components, an organization that was subsequently realigned into various product divisions. He was elected to the RCA Board of Directors in September 1974.

Mr. Hittinger was appointed Executive Vice President, Research and Engineering for the RCA Corporation on April 26, 1976. In this post, he has direct responsibility for the research and engineering activities in RCA, including the RCA Patent Operations and Laboratories in Princeton, N.J. He is a Director of American Fletcher Corporation and American Fletcher National Bank. He is also a Fellow of the IEEE, a Trustee of Lehigh University, and a Member of the National Academy of Engineering.
- RCA 1978 Company Biography

William C. Hittinger is a former chairman of the university's board of trustees, who became interim president after the departure of Peter Likins. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Hittinger served for 22 years on the board of trustees. He graduated from Lehigh in 1944 with a B.S. in metallurgical engineering, and received an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from Lehigh in 1973.

Over a 40-year career in the electronics industry, Hittinger worked for Western Electric Co., National Union Radio Corp., Bell Telephone Laboratories, Bellcomm Inc., General Instrument Corp., and RCA Corp. At Bellcomm, he oversaw systems engineering for NASA's manned spaceflight program, and at RCA, where he became executive vice president, he was responsible for corporate technology, patents, licensing, international business and marketing development, and corporate technology planning.

Hittinger was a member of President Reagan's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee from 1982-86. He was also a member of the U.S.-Brazil Presidential Committee on Science and Technology and a member of the board of directors for eight companies.

Hittinger served as national president of the Lehigh Alumni Association 1971-72 and received the prestigious L-in-Life award in 1979. An ROTC student at Lehigh, Hittinger served in the U.S. Army in 1943-46 during World War II, rising to the rank of captain.

During Hittinger's term as chairman of the board of trustees, Lehigh began construction of the Zoellner Arts Center, completed the Ulrich Student Center, aggressively improved its financial aid for undergraduates, and completed the $300 million Campaign for Preserving The Vision. As president, Hittinger realigned the Iacocca Institute into the College of Business and Economics, oversaw the construction of the new Sayre Park Village residential complex, and helped Lehigh move forward during a time of presidential transition.
- 2002 Lehigh University Biography

In 1997, William Hittinger came out of retirement for one year to serve as interim President at his alma mater Lehigh University.

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