Robert J. Heiber

2019 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD RECIPIENT

BA 1973, Radio & Television

Former Vice President Audio DDM, Chace Audio by Deluxe
President of the Board of Directors, The Rick Chace Foundation

Robert J. Heiber began his career in film after graduating from Purdue University in 1973, with a degree in Radio-TV-Film. He was an award winning 16mm industrial filmmaker in Chicago prior to moving to Los Angeles to work for Warner Bros. in 1979.  He joined Chace Productions as General Manager, in 1990, and became President in 1992. He retired from his professional career as Vice President of Audio for Deluxe Media in 2014.

During his career in film sound preservation, restoration and remastering, he was responsible for the development and refinement of unique and problem-solving technologies.  An original member of the Association of Moving Image Archivists he received the Silver Light Award for career achievement at the associations 2014 conference.  More recently Heiber was the recipient of the James A. Lindner – Archival Technology Medal at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers 2018 Annual Conference.

On the national scene Heiber participated hearings conducted by the Library of Congress on the “state of preservation” in film, television and recorded sound. He was a task force member for the creation of the National Film Preservation Board and chaired the Education, Professional Training and Research task force for the National Recorded Sound Preservation Plan.

A tireless advocate for the “sound” side of the picture, Heiber is President of The Rick Chace Foundation, whose mission is “to break the silence on the history, art and technology” of motion picture sound.  In collaboration with Robert Gitt and the UCLA Film & Television Archive, the foundation has produced The Century of Sound educational DVDs covering the first 100 years of motion picture sound technology. Heiber was admitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1999.