David D. Doran ’50

Dave died Oct. 3, 2019, in Stuart, Fla., where he had lived since 1996. 

A graduate of Columbia (N.J.) High School, he served in the Navy for a year before coming to Princeton. An electrical engineering major and member of Tiger Inn, he played in the band and founded the Radio and Electronics Club. 

In 1950 Dave was recalled by the Navy to be an electrical engineering instructor at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. He returned to civilian life in 1952 to work on electronics research and new-product development for Bethlehem Steel. Starting from a garage operation in 1960, he founded his own business, Industrial Gauging and Control Co., in Norwalk, Conn. It became a successful company making X-ray thickness gauges for the metals industry. 

Dave sold the company in 1978, but still wishing to work, he joined Measurement Systems in Norwalk as an R&D manager. He retired for good in 1988, though seven years later he spent a year in St. Petersburg, Russia, for the U.S. Defense Department. 

Dave is survived by his second wife, Elaine; and a daughter, Deborah. He was predeceased by his first wife, Patricia, whom he married in 1951; son David Jr.; and daughter Barbara.