|
|
Jerry Rosenblatt, ca 1965(Hughes patent award photo)
|
Born in Buffalo , N.Y. March 26, 1923. Lived as a child during the depression and remember it well. Graduated High School in Buffalo , June 1940. Went to University of Buffalo for one year. I applied and obtained a job in the engineering department at Curtiss Wright Aircraft. They were making P40 Airplanes. Was at Curtiss on December 7, 1941 ( Pearl Harbor Day). Worked at Curtiss until I was drafted into the army. I was in the South Pacific Theater and in the Okinawa invasion. On Okinawa , I had a very narrow escape with a land mine.
|
Jerry Rosenblatt, 2006(Photo by Tom Godfrey)
|
After the war, back home, it was time to see what the rest of my life was going to be. I went back to the Univ. of Buffalo . I was trying to find out how fast I could get a degree and make a living. So, I applied to Columbia Univ. in N.Y.C. in the Optometry department and got accepted. I should say here that engineering, science, and astronomy were always my hobbies. So, I discovered that at Columbia I could get my optometry degree and an optics degree at the same time. Therefore, in June 1949 (nine years after I graduated high school) I received my degrees.
After graduation, I went back to Buffalo and opened up an Optometry office. However, science was really my thing. So, in 1955 I vacationed in California and was able to get an offer from Northrop Optical Lab, in Pasadena . Therefore, by the end of summer in 1955 I moved to California and started to work at Northrop.
Northrop was the beginning of my Optics career. For four years I worked at the Northrop Lab. Doing everything the lab. offered. I worked with Paul Halderman and Lowell Baskins. I did precision optical metrology, thin film optical coating in vacuum, raytracing for optical design ( at that time there were no computers, only mechanical calculators and Peters tables for trig. functions. Northrop was a great education for me.
I was solicited by Lockheed’s Infrared Department in 1959 and worked there for three years doing optical design etc. At the time Walter “Wally” Wallin had an office in Tarzana, and I was able to utilize him as a consultant while I was at Lockheed. In about 1962 the Infrared Department at Hughes Aircraft offered me a position. I was at Hughes until I retired in October 1986. I was OSSC Programs Chairman when Hank Frels was OSS President in 1962-63, and Treasurer the next year, then suddenly became President in 1964-65, because Vice President W. S. Gallaway and Secretary Milton Laikin chose to do something else.
At Hughes I was very active. I obtained three patents, and had several other patent applications that never were awarded. I ended up as Project Manager of the entire optical (both visible and infrared) system on the Bradly Fighting Vehicle. On the Navy A6 Aircraft there is an Infrared 5x zoom lens in the sight. That is one of my patents.
I have 3 children: Shellie, Ellen and Ken, who have bleesed me with 5 grandchildren, all in the LA area.
|