Milton Hollander (1928-2017)
Dr. Hollander earned over 200 patents and was the chief science and technology officer for two Fortune 100 companies, American Standard Corporation and Gulf + Western Industries. His pioneering breakthroughs in welding, energy storage, food processing, automation, process measurement and control, and other areas advanced the frontiers of science, technology, industry, and defense. Dr. Hollander's discoveries are today essential components of research and manufacturing worldwide. Dr. Hollander's invention of flywheel-based friction welding sustains drilling rigs miles underground and undersea, and his innovations in infrared temperature measurement transmit data from probes millions of miles away in space. He published over 25 technical papers in temperature measurement, metal cutting, instrumentation, and related subjects.
Milton Bernard Hollander was born in Bayonne, NJ on November 29, 1928 to Harry and Lena Hollander. The family lived in a tiny, unheated apartment above the corner grocery store Harry ran. Milton's sister was the late Evelyn Hollander Verbel. He graduated from Bayonne Technical High School in 1946 and enlisted in the United States Army, serving in Korea at age 17 and becoming a sergeant within months.
Following Army service, he entered Purdue University on the G.I. Bill. His lifelong devotion to American manufacturing and the U.S. military were born of these experiences. Dr. Hollander earned his master's degree at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1952 and his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1959 while working full time.
At Bendix Corporation in the early 1950's, he developed pioneering missile technology. The Hollander family moved to Stamford, CT in 1961 when Dr. Hollander was a young research engineer at AMF Corporation, then a global leader in automation and manufacturing technology. He rose to head AMF's Central Research Laboratories before becoming the chief science and technology officer for American Standard and later for Gulf + Western.
Upon retiring from Gulf + Western, Dr. Hollander purchased controlling interest in Newport Electronics, Inc. and grew it into a leading manufacturer of scientific instrumentation. He also created high technology corporate campuses in Connecticut, New Jersey, Ohio, and the United Kingdom. He acquired the site of AMF's Central Research Labs that had brought him to Stamford decades earlier and integrated it into his neighboring River Bend high technology campus.
His devoted life partner and soul mate, Betty Ruth Hollander, whom he met in high school and to whom he was married 57 years, died in 2011. Betty Ruth was the founder and chief executive officer of Omega Engineering, Inc. The Hollanders were passionate champions of Made-in-USA manufacturing, American workers, and their families. They were also generous supporters of education, hospitals, medical research, public libraries, veterans, and Jewish causes—serving on many institutions' boards of directors. In 1978, Milton and Betty Hollander helped organize the first visit of prominent American Jews to meet with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to support his breakthrough recognition of Israel. A lifelong aviation enthusiast, he learned to fly at age 60, later earning his commercial pilot license and instrument rating. Dr. Hollander launched two new businesses for products he invented after turning 85 years old.
Purdue University named Dr. Hollander a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus in 1972 and awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in engineering in 2009. He and Betty Ruth donated the money for the atrium in the Gatewood Wing of the Mechanical Engineering building, which opened in 2011. They also endowed a professorship in Mechanical Engineering, a position currently held by Dr. Issam Mudawar.