Theodore Aaron Litovitz (October 14, 1923 – May 1, 2006) was physics professor at

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily ...

and a prolific inventor. His inventions include a method to safely store nuclear waste, an electronic chip ( EMX Biochip) to shield cell phone users from harmful electromagnetic radiation, and some of the early fiber optics now used in telecommunications. Litovitz held 25 patents, and was the co-founder of Catholic University's Vitreous State Laboratory,Vitreous State Laboratory
/ref> where students used

vitrification Vitrification (, via French ') is the full or partial transformation of a substance into a glass, that is to say, a non- crystalline or amorphous solid. Glasses differ from liquids structurally and glasses possess a higher degree of connectivity ...

to immobilize radioactive waste. The process he pioneered is expected to save 20 years and $20 billion in cleanup costs at the government's

Hanford Nuclear Reservation The Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production complex operated by the United States federal government on the Columbia River in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. It has also been known as SiteW and the Hanford Nuclear Re ...

alone. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, Litovitz developed an infrared transmitting window used in a

U-2 spy plane The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed the "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single-engine, high–altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) since the 1950s. Designed for all- ...

. He also helped develop a cheap glass fiber intended to replace copper wire, "a giant leap to the fiber optics revolution".

Personal life

Litovitz was born in New York and moved to Washington, DC, at the age of 2. He was graduated from old Central High School and attended George Washington University before serving as a Navy radar repair technician in the South Pacific during World War II. After returning, he finished his degree and then a Ph.D. at Catholic University where he taught until 1998 and conducted research until his death. Litovitz and his wife, Charlotte, had a daughter, Toby, a son, Gary, and four grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Litovitz, Theodore 1923 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American physicists United States Navy personnel of World War II Catholic University of America School of Arts and Sciences faculty Catholic University of America alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society United States Navy sailors