Obituary of Sidney M. Rubens

Rubens, Sidney Michel Brighton: December 13, 2007 at age 97. Survived by his loving daughter, Dr. Deborah Rubens; granddaughter, Lauren Weiss & son-in-law Abraham Weiss. He is pre-deceased by his wife Julienne and five brothers and sisters. Born in Spokane, WA, Sidney was the youngest of 6 children of Lithuanian immigrant parents. As a teenager, he discovered Ham Radio which sparked a life-long interest in physics, electronics and telecommunications. He matriculated at the University of Washington, where he received a BS and a PhD in Physics, one of the first in that department. Sidney did his post-doctoral work at USC and UCLA where he met and married Julienne Fridner. With the outbreak of World War II, he was recruited to join the Naval Ordinance Laboratory in Washington, DC where he invented methods to degauss ships to make them immune to magnetic mines. After the war, he joined Engineering Research Associates in St Paul, Minnesota, which subsequently became UNIVAC, where he was the director of research in charge of classified and large scale computer systems. He is most noted for his development of thin-film magnetic memory essential to all computers. He retired in 1975, and immediately joined the University of Minnesota as an honorary Professor of Electrical Engineering. He mentored graduate students and contributed intellectually to engineering start-up corporations. He was awarded over 30 US patents, with his most recent application in 2007. He was the inaugural recipient of the IEEE Magnetics Society Information Storage Award (1987) and received the IEEE Society Millennium Medal for lifetime achievement (2000). He was on the advisory board of NASA. Of all his accomplishments he was most proud of his war time work to protect the lives of America's sailors and Merchant Marine. A devoted father and grandfather, a celebrated physicist and computer pioneer, a constant mentor and friend, we mourn his passing and celebrate his phenomenal life. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 from 5:30-6:30 PM at Brighton Memorial Chapel (3325 Winton Road S.) A Memorial Service will follow at 6:30 PM in the chapel of the funeral home. Map to the funeral home. Contributions in his memory may be made to the following organizations: University of Rochester School of Engineering PO Box 270076 Rochester, NY 14627 Attn: Dean Kevin Parker School of Engineering The Jewish Home Foundation 2021 Winton Road South Rochester, NY 14618 www.jewishhomefoundation.com Department of Physics University of Washington Box 351560 Seattle, WA 98195-1560 Attn: Jennifer Raines, Administrator www.phys.washington.edu University of Minnesota Foundation C/M 3854 PO Box 70870 St. Paul, MN 55170-3854 Attn: The Hartig Fund 1150 www.giving.umn.edu The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1200 New York Avenue NW Washington, DC 20005 www.aaas.org Home Brighton, New York Birthplace Spokane, Washington