Dr. Edwin Zebroski

Dr. Edwin Leopold Zebroski

Resident of Los Altos

Moved to Los Altos in 1954 when the nuclear power industry was in its infancy. He first worked at SRI as manager of engineering and then became project manager at the new GE plant in San Jose, where he made a name for himself as a nuclear fuels and plutonium expert.

He was instrumental in bringing the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to Palo Alto, helped found the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) in Atlanta and, later returned to EPRI as Chief Nuclear Scientist. After leaving EPRI he continued grappling with risk analysis on some grand projects like a deep sea natural gas pipleline between Oman and India. Always challenged by mind-boggling projects he assisted a local engineering company, APTECH in solving them.

He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for "Outstanding contributions in fuel performance, reprocessing, advanced reactor designs and safety analyses leading to commercial utilization of nuclear energy".

An active member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, a dedicated pianist and admirer of computer technology, he finally reached his innovative limits.

Both, the scientific community and his family and friends will miss his creative ideas and caring heart.

His wife, Gisela, and children Zoe, Susan and Peggy as well as his grandchildren and great-grandchildren will honor the celebration of his life along with friends and members of the community on November 20, at 12:30 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto at 505 Charleston Road. After the service we'll gather over lunch in the fireside room.