Dr. Gerald B. Kliman

NISKAYUNA Dr. Gerald B. Kliman of Niskayuna, N.Y. died suddenly on Friday, January 30, 2004 after an auto accident. Dr. Kliman was born in Boston, Mass. in 1931 during the Depression. He grew up in the tough Dorchester neighborhood, the third of four children. He was a graduate of Boston Technical High School. Due to financial constraints, only his youngest brother was expected to attend college. However, thanks to Dr. Kliman's perseverance as well as the mentorship of his electricity teacher, Pops Farnsworth, he began work as an electronics technician at the MIT Radar Meteorology lab while attending night classes at the Lowell Institute School. Encouraged by his supervisor, Alan Bemis, he entered MIT as a freshman, using for tuition all the money he had saved to that point in his life. After the first year, his tuition was paid by loans and scholarship. After graduating with his B.S. in 1955, he became an Air Force Armaments & Electronics Officer based in Bedford, Mass. He continued his engineering education at evening classes at Northeastern University in Boston. After leaving the Air Force, he again attended MIT as a full time graduate student in electrical engineering. He earned his M.S. in 1959 and his Ph.D. in 1965. Following a brief tenure as a professor at RPI, he joined General Electric where he became well known as an expert in induction motors and was awarded the prestigious title of Fellow in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. During this time, he traveled the world giving presentations at international electrical engineering conferences and also teaching classes at universities around the world. Following his retirement from GE in 2000, he rejoined the staff of RPI to continue his research and to continue his work with GE in a consulting role. Shortly before his death, he had been awarded his 88th patent. Dr. Kliman is the author of numerous reports and papers, was an associate editor of the Power Systems and Components Journal and, at the time of his death, was working as the co-editor for the latest Handbook of Electric Motors. In addition to his excellence in engineering, Dr. Kliman had a passion for music and played violin for various orchestras. It was while playing in the MIT orchestra that Dr. Kliman met Edith Moses, who became his wife of 43 years. After moving to Niskayuna, he and his wife joined the Ballston Community Orchestra, later called the Music Company Orchestra. Dr. Kliman served on the board of the MCO for several years. Furthermore, Dr. Kliman had a great devotion to his Jewish faith and was a longtime member of Congregation Agudat Achim, where he served on several committees. One of the most important to him was the Interfaith subcommittee of the Adult Education committee where he sought to build bridges between the various religious communities in the area. One of his proudest achievements was bringing together members of the local Muslim and Jewish communities for mutual dialogue. This was an ongoing project in which he was deeply involved up to the time of his death. Dr. Kliman is survived by his wife Edith; a brother, Albert Kliman of Silver Springs, Md.; and his two sons, Daniel, a physician in Oakland, Calif., and Jonathan, a system engineer in Amherst, Mass. Funeral services will be held on Monday, February 2, 2004 at 3:00 p.m. at Congregation Agudat Achim, located at 2117 Union Street (Route 7) in Niskayuna. In keeping with Jewish custom, the family requests that charitable contributions be made in Dr. Kliman's name in lieu of sending flowers.