We lost one of our most inventive minds with George’s Aug. 3, 2016, passing after his battling cancer for several years. After earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Princeton, George received an MBA from Harvard and set out on a career as entrepreneur and inventor. He came to hold 20 U.S. patents and many more in foreign countries. Most visible to the public was his invention of the clip-on anti-shoplifting tag now appended to clothing and other products, which he sold to Sensormatic Corp. in the 1970s.
He then turned to the emerging field of fiber optics, founded International Fiber Systems, developed numerous products for fiber-optic transmission of video, audio, and data matter, and sold the company to General Electric in 2003. He later founded Comnet, a major producer of optic, Ethernet, and wireless transmission products. He was its CEO at the time of his death.
George became a keen and focused philanthropist. He supported a foundation to provide hearing aids for those in need. He was also active in the Hudson Institute and Hope Sound Hope Chest, delivering many laptops and printers to children in need. His beloved wife, Anne, whom he married in 1968, predeceased him by just 10 days. They had no children.