Posted on Feb 7, 2002

Colleagues are mourning the loss of Herbert Strong, a
physicist who was a research professor in the physics department
since 1973.

Strong, who is credited with developing synthetic diamonds
for industrial use while a researcher with General Electric, died Jan.
29. He was 93.

GE announced Strong's discovery in 1955, sending
GE stock up and DeBeers Diamond stock down, according to
one colleague.

Until recently, Strong was a regular at physics meetings
and lectures.

Survivors include his wife, Virginia Powell Strong.