Loferski, J. J. (Joseph John)

Joseph John Loferski (1925-1997), professor of engineering and an important figure in solar cell development, was born in Hudson, Pennsylvania on August 7, 1925. He received a bachelor of science degree in physics from the University of Scranton in 1948, a master of science degree in 1949 and a doctorate in 1953, both from the University of Pennsylvania. His dissertation was on "Infrared Optical Properties of Tellurium Crystals." He married Sylvia Dolores Sweeda on August 27, 1949. He was an instructor and research assistant from 1948 to 1952, and a research associate from 1952 to 1953, at the University of Pennsylvania, and a research engineer at RCA Laboratories in Princeton, New Jersey, from 1953 to 1960. At Brown he was appointed associate professor in 1961 and full professor in 1966. He was chairman of the engineering division from 1968 to 1974 and associate dean of the graduate school from 1980 to 1983. He died of cancer on January 20, 1997. Brown established the Joseph J. Loferski Solar Research Scholarship in his honor.