Fritz Russ, 84, Electronics Innovator
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Fritz J. Russ, an electrical engineer who tested space suits and designed equipment for nuclear tests during World War II, died Wednesday at Hospice of Dayton, Ohio. He was 84.
Russ’s inventions included a power supply used in televisions, and the first transistorized wireless electric guitar. Russ was appointed by President Ford to the president’s committee on science, and was recognized for promoting and advancing electrical engineering.
In 1999, he and his wife established an annual $500,000 prize for engineering accomplishments improving the human condition. Modeled after the Nobel Prize, the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize is one of the top engineering prizes in the world.
