Leon Jacobson ’47

Leon died Oct. 26, 2024, in Fort Myers, Fla. He was 101.

He was brought up in Gloversville, N.Y., and later studied electrical engineering. During World War II, the Army sent him to Princeton to study but his old college, Union, refused to give him credit for these courses. Princeton instead agreed to allow him to finish his degree here. In gratitude he gave the University annual contributions for more than 75 years.

Leon worked for most of his career with General Electric in Syracuse, N.Y., where he specialized in radio-controlled missile guidance systems, including for some of the early space launches by NASA, and developed new methods for making printed circuits. He taught a course in creativity for engineers that led to important innovations.

Leon was a keen amateur photographer and later became interested in antique cameras and photographs. With his wife, Hilde, he became one of the first to publish a regular catalog selling early cameras and photographs. He wrote articles about early photography and in 1975 was elected to the board of the Photographic Historical Society.

Leon is survived by his son, Ken ’70; and daughter Joan.