Frederick Forscher ’47

Fred died July 23, 1996, in Pittsburgh, Pa. He was born in Vienna in 1918, and when the Nazis marched into Austria in 1938, he sought refuge in the US. He enlisted in the Army in 1941 and was sworn in as a citizen in 1942 while in uniform.

After a brief stint at Princeton in the Army Specialized Training Program in 1944, he served with an engineering battalion in the Philippines and Japan. He returned to Princeton to study engineering, also earning a master's. He earned a PhD in applied mechanics at Columbia. In 1944 he married Mia Weiner.

In 1952 Fred began with Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, where he organized and supervised the mechanicalmetallurgical section, which was helping develop the metal alloys used in the first nuclearpowered submarine. With two other engineers in 1957, he founded NUMEC, the first privately owned nuclear-fuel company. In 1968 Fred returned to Westinghouse as manager of advanced fuel in their nuclear fuel division. Five years he became an energy consultant and helped several federal agencies, including the Presidential Commission to investigate the accident at Three Mile Island in 1979.

Fred's exemplary career was in the Princeton tradition of service to the nation. Our class is proud of him. To Mia and their three daughters, Stephanie, Joan, and Carrie, we extend our profound sympathy.

The Class of 1947