Unfortunately, Joe Spira has passed. Joe was the man behind Lutron, otherwise known as having a household dimmer in about every place you could imagine of their brand name. We’re really sorry to hear of Joe’s passing.
Joe Spira brought the household dimmer to market — his patent could probably be praised as one of the most important lighting and interior design modifiers of the last 75 years.
From an article at MyFox28:
COOPERSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Joel Spira, who brought the light dimmer switch to households across the nation and transformed his Lutron Electronics Company into a leading manufacturer of lighting controls, died of natural causes on Wednesday. He was 88.
The Coopersburg, Pennsylvania-based company, which confirmed the death, said he had been working with company engineers on a new product the night before he died.
Spira, who patented an electronic light dimming device, developed the company into a worldwide distributor of motorized shades and lighting and temperature controls. He led the company for 54 years and most recently was chairman and director of research.
The Morning Call said Lutron currently employs 1,100 people in the Lehigh Valley.
“Someday I’ll be gone,” he told the newspaper in 2012. “But dimmers will be with us forever.”
The privately held company said Spira is credited with more than 300 design and utility patents in the United States. The company now holds 2,700 patents across the globe.
A company history posted on its website said that by 1959, Spira had developed a solid-state dimmer for incandescent lighting that was practical for home use. He and his wife, Ruth, incorporated Lutron two years later, and set out to mass-market the product.
“His innovations not only save energy, but also make people’s lives better by creating residential and commercial spaces that are more comfortable and more pleasant,” Lutron president Michael Pessina said in a statement.
Spira graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics from Purdue University in 1948.
Update, from the Washington Post:
The death was confirmed by his company, based in Coopersburg, Pa. The cause was not disclosed. Mr. Spira had reportedly been working with company engineers on a new product the night before he died.
Mr. Spira, who patented an electronic light-dimming device, developed Lutron Electronics into a worldwide distributor of motorized shades and lighting and temperature controls. He led the company for 54 years and most recently was chairman and director of research.
The privately held company said Mr. Spira is credited with more than 300 design and utility patents in the United States. Lutron holds 2,700 patents across the world.
A corporate history posted on the company’s Web site said that by 1959, Mr. Spira had developed a solid-state dimmer for incandescent lighting that was practical for home use. He and his wife, Ruth, incorporated Lutron two years later and set out to mass-market the product.
Mr. Spira was born in New York City and served in the Navy during World War II. He received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Indiana’s Purdue University in 1948.
Lutron employs 1,100 people in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, according to the Morning Call newspaper in Allentown, Pa.
