About
In Memoriam: Theodor Tamir, 1927-2018
Nov 22, 2018
Theodor Tamir, OSA Fellow and Professor Emeritus at New York University Tandon School of Engineering, passed away at the age of 91. Tamir was known as an effective and committed administrator and for his mathematical studies of electromagnetic wave propagation in layered and periodic media.
Tamir was born in Romania and during World War II, he emigrated to Israel and settled in Jerusalem, where he trained as a radio repair apprentice. He would later serve in the Israeli army as a radio repairman. Following Israel’s War for Independence, Tamir pursued a B.S. degree at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, in electrical engineering. He earned his doctoral degree in 1962 from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and joined the faculty, where he continued his studies in the propagation and scattering of electromagnetic waves. Tamir would go on to become department chair and lead Polytech through a difficult period of transition, specifically the acquisition of the faculty, programs, and students of the New York University College of Engineering.
Tamir was a pioneer in recognizing the importance of optics for communications and was well-known for explaining various phenomena observed in the coupling of light beams to waveguides. His most recent research used period grating like structures to enhance the efficiency of photovoltaic cells. He published extensively over the course of his career and New York University Tandon School of Engineering created an annual award for the best Masters Thesis in Electrical and Computer Science in his honor. Tamir held many patents and was a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Fellow of OSA, and Member of the Institute of Radio Science (URSI).
Tamir was a devoted husband and father. He will be dearly missed by his family, colleagues, and the scientific community. OSA mourns the loss of Theodore Tamir.
