'One of science's most brilliant stars'
The College is mourning the death of Gordon Gould '41, the laser pioneer who established a professorship in honor of the College physics professor who sparked his interest in the physics of light. Gould, who passed away in New York City on Sept. 16, was 85.
“Just as Gordon Gould made an immeasurable difference in the lives of millions worldwide, he made an important difference for Union College,” said James Underwood, interim president. “The College is indeed fortunate to have been associated with – and supported by – one of science's most brilliant stars.”
Gould coined the ubiquitous term “laser” (“light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”) and later fought a three-decade battle to secure patent rights for the invention he began in 1957 as a graduate student at Columbia University. In 1987, the U.S. Patent Office awarded him a patent on optically pumped laser amplifiers. Over the years he won a series of other legal victories that left him in control of patent rights to an estimated 90 percent of the lasers used and sold in the United States.
At Union, Gould was a physics major and member of Sigma Chi. He did graduate research in optics at Yale and was a doctoral student and research assistant at Columbia. He worked on the Manhattan Project from 1943 to 1945. He was elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1991.
He received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Union in 1978 and the Eliphalet Nott Medal in 1995. He established the R. Gordon Gould Professorship of Physics in 1995 to honor Frank Studer, his former professor.
He was a cofounder, in 1973, of an optical communications company, Optelecom, Inc., where he earned further patents before retiring in 1985. Since then, he advised a gem and precious jewel communications company and six other ventures in which he had invested.
Survivors include his wife, Marilyn Appel, and several nieces and nephews.