Branko Leskovar

1930 - 2016

Branko Leskovar

July 2, 1930 - January 19, 2016

Born in Zagreb, Croatia, Branko Leskovar died on January 19th. He was 85 years old. He started his early professional career as a brilliant student at the University of Zagreb, Croatia where he earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. In 1965 he was offered a temporary appointment at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, where he remained until retirement.

As Section Leader and a Principal Investigator at LBL, his group supported advanced research programs in physics, biology and medicine, orienting the research programs toward solving recognized problems in scientific instrumentation and the long term needs of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory departments and other Dept. of Energy Laboratories.

Over the course of his long professional career, he directed programs that resulted in more than 100 publications widely cited in the scientific literature. His work in resolution studies of electro-optical devices has had profound benefits on development and manufacturing of new devices with significantly improved characteristics. He greatly improved the accuracy and range of measuring methods in device resolution studies. These methods have been accepted world-wide by government and industrial laboratories. Upon retirement, he served as Scientific Advisor to numerous universities and US government agencies. He was a fellow of IEEE and Sigma Xi societies.

His outstanding scientific achievements earned him full recognition in his native country where he became a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

A man of his word, with an equal measure of brilliant intellect and integrity, he cherished his family and enduring friendships that sustained him in difficult times during post war Yugoslavia and again after his first wife, Ema, passed away. He is survived by his devoted wife, Ana; his son, Dr. Tomislav Leskovar, MD; and extended family in the US and Croatia.

Interment will be held at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, CA on January 26th, 2016. Contributions in Branko's name may be made to the Croatian Scholarship Fund, croatianscholarship.org.