Saul Rosenbaum, a longtime Leviton Manufacturing Company employee and past National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) engineer and code representative, passed away on February 5. He was 91.
Mr. Rosenbaum, a Navy veteran, began his work with Leviton in the test lab and moved to electronics research and development. He rose from a bench technician to Engineer, Chief Engineer, Research Director, and Vice President of Research and worked at Leviton for more than 40 years.
At Leviton, Mr. Rosenbaum and his team developed and improved numerous innovative electronic products. He held more than 40 patents as an inventor, ranging from dimmer switches, remote and voice command modules, and the earliest home automation systems. The ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI), one of his patented products, is ubiquitous and widely adopted. Interestingly, Mr. Rosenbaum also commuted to work for a time in the late 1970s in a prototype electric car, as part of a groundbreaking U.S. Department of Energy study.
In his work, Mr. Rosenbaum participated in numerous Standard-setting panels and international conferences designed to coordinate electronic products’ international protocols. He served on and chaired the Home Automation Association System Board of Directors of NEMA and was recognized for his years of service to the National Electrical Code® (NEC®) and the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA). He also enjoyed nurturing young talent at work and representing Leviton in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Business Innovation Partner program.
Mr. Rosenbaum was preceded in death by his wife, Betty Zaffe (Rosenbaum), to whom he was married for more than 68 years. He is survived by the couple’s three children—Marcy Rosenbaum (Barry Nierenberg), Marty Rosenbaum, and Loryn Zangwill (Steven). Mr. Rosenbaum was a devoted and loving grandfather to Jesse Rosenbaum (Heather), Andy Rosenbaum, Ariel Livovich (Jacob, Faye, and Aubrey), and Jami Zangwill, and great-grandfather to Jordyn Blanche Rosenbaum.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations honoring Mr. Rosenbaum’s life and legacy be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
Memorial donations may also be made to the Educational Activities Scholarship Fund of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which provides need-based scholarships for students wishing to learn more about engineering and technology through the association’s TryEngineering Summer Institutes.
His full obituary can be found here.
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