obituaries >> on the cover

IThe Jewish
Edison'

Ovshinsky holds

a roll of photo-

voltaic film.

Stan Ovshinsky dies at 89.

Bill Carroll I Contributing Writer

CONTINUED FROM THE COVER

charts every day, always inspired by the
structure of the brain, while working on his
inventions, many of which are touching the
lives of millions of Americans. The most
prominent is the nickel-metal hydride bat-
tery, which paved the way for the electric
and hybrid cars now starring in the auto
industry, and also is used in laptop com-
puters, digital cameras, cell phones, solar
energy panels and even medical devices.
Ovshinsky, 89, who had been called the
"Jewish Edison" — a self-taught prodigy,
engineer, scientist, physicist, innovator and
brilliant inventor, with almost 400 patents
— died of prostate cancer at his Bloomfield
Hills home Oct. 17, just a month short of his
90th birthday.
"I've said all along that I'm out to change
the world," he once told the Detroit Jewish
News in an interview. "The world always
needs more affordable alternative energy,
which is the very basis of the global econ-
omy. I'm proud of the fact that I was into
the 'greening of automobiles far before the
current efforts.
"Many people complain about problems,
but I have a history of providing solutions."

Always Solving, Learning
Ovshinsky's son, Harvey, of Ann Arbor, stat-
ed: "Our family grieves the loss to the world
of our deeply- loved father, husband, grand-
father, brother and outstanding contributor
to humanity. To the end, he was true to his
character, always solving, always learning':
Harvey Ovshinsky said his father believed
that energy and information are the two
pillars of society that guided his pioneering
work in the fields of sustainable energy and
information technology
"My father wanted to repair the world;
not only protect the planet, but also protect
all of the people in it. He was committed to
the people,' Harvey said.
Stanford Ovshinsky was one of 35
American inventors over the past century
"who helped shape the modern world" and
were profiled in the book Inventing Modern
America.
Dr. Harley Shaiken, a University of
California professor and labor expert,
explained: "Henry Ford transformed the
20th century with the moving auto assem-
bly line. Stan Ovshinsky did what Ford did,
but he really went beyond him in that he
also developed the science that allowed new

100 October 25 • 2012

materials and new approaches
that laid the basis for a global
transformation in energy and
information."

True Predictions
Ovshinsky has been described
as "the Edison of our age,' "the
hero of the electric car" and
"the sage of the future"
Harvey added: "When he
was doing newspaper inter-
Stan and Iris Ovshinsky, circa 1960
views back in the 1960s, he
stunned reporters by predict-
ing the coming of the digital
age and saying we would all
puter," based on the structure of the brain.
be watching television on flat screens on a
wall:
All Theories Tested
For more than 50 years — far before it
Ovshinsky's brother, Herb, of Oak Park, was
became fashionable — Ovshinsky had wor-
with him during the heyday of his inven-
ried about the environment, global warm-
tion period as director of ECD's machine
ing and the dwindling oil supply. He was
division. "I'm proud to say that we tested
on a mission to wean America off oil and
all of Stan's theories through the years with
into things like hydrogen and solar energy
sophisticated testing equipment and every-
to fuel vehicles. With the financial backing
thing proved out. In his early years, he was a
from various partners, he spent millions of
man with his head in the clouds, but his feet
dollars developing silicon semiconductor
firmly on the ground," said Herb.
materials, leading to new phases of material
Stanford Ovshinsky was born in Akron,
engineering.
Ohio, the son of Jewish Lithuanian immi-
He held patents relating to thin-film solar grants. His father, Ben, came to Chicago
cells, rewriteable optical discs, a new form
first as a horse-tending teamster before
of non-volatile memory and the flat-panel
meeting his mother, Bertha, on a trip to
(TV) displays. All of these inventions rely
Akron, then moving there. He became a
on Ovshinsky's discoveries in the field of
scrap dealer after some years spent collect-
disordered or "amorphous" materials, later
ing scrap from machine shops and selling it
named "ovonics" in his honor.
to companies.
In 1960, Ovshinsky and his second
Ovshinsky dropped out of high school
wife, Iris, founded Energy Conversion
during the Great Depression, "but not
Laboratory, later called Energy Conversion
because of financial reasons like all the
Devices Inc., in Rochester Hills. The world-
other stories reported about me,' he told
wide firm reached its peak in the 1980s
the Jewish News. "It was because I wanted
with 500-600 employees, spinning off many to educate myself, and I did most of my
research companies, and flourished until
learning in public libraries and the Akron
the economy started collapsing earlier this
Workmen's Circle (a New York-based
century. Ovshinsky had suffered a personal
American Jewish fraternal organization,
tragedy in 2006 when his drowned. He
also in Oak Park):'
also had a bacterial infection that required
Ovshinsky performed odd jobs dur-
surgery.
ing the day and attended a trade school at
Ovshinsky left the company in 2007 and
night, learning to run a lathe and a machine
later "sort of started over:' he said, open-
shop. He became a skilled machinist during
ing an office in a small building next to a
World War II and got his first patent for a
former girls' school on East Square Lake
two-headed lathe designed to produce twin
Road. He married Rosa Young, a physicist
artillery projectiles at a time on the same
with whom he worked at ECD for 23 years.
machine.
She retired from there and joined him in his
new venture that continued until his death.
`Workmen's Circle Jew'
He had continued to work on a longtime
In the 1950s, Ovshinsky moved to Detroit
dream, development of a "cognitive coin-
"to be closer to the auto industry and newer

Obituaries

technology," and invented electronic power
steering while working for the old Hupp
Corp. In his spare time, he studied comput-
ers and neurophysiology. He shifted his
interests toward electrical engineering and
discovered that glass can be engineered to
conduct electricity.
Ovshinsky once pointed out that his
mother was very religious, but not the rest
of the family. "I haven't been too religious
over the years': he said.
Herb Ovshinsky described his brother
as a -Workmen's Circle Jew: Our father
belonged to the Socialist Democratic Party,
and that socialism carried over to the rest of
the family. Stan was an avid reader, always
studying; he knew about everything."
Ovshinsky had several honorary degrees,
including an honorary doctor of sciences
degree from the University of Michigan;
received many prestigious prizes and sci-
entific awards; wrote close to 300 scientific
papers; and regularly consulted with Nobel
Prize winners and other scientists around
the world.
"In addition to being a scientist, my
father was a committed humanitarian:'
said Harvey Ovshinsky. "His courage and
leadership from the early days of the labor,
civil rights and peace movements con-
tinued in his lifelong dedication to a just
society for all."
Stanford Ovshinsky is survived by his
wife, Rosa; children, Ben, Harvey, Dale,
Robin, Steven, Angela and Vicki; grandchil-
dren, Natasha, Nosh, Sylvie, Pablo, Olivia
and Norah; and brother, Herbert. He was
the husband of the late Iris Ovshinsky.
Interment was Oct. 21 at the Workmen's
Circle Cemetery in Akron. Arrangements
by Dorfman Chapel in Farmington Hills.
Donations may be made to the ACLU of
Michigan, 2966 Woodward Ave., Detroit,
MI 48201; or the Ovshinsky Student Fund,
care of Darlene Logan, director of develop-
ment, the American Physical Society, 1
Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740.