Gerard M. Grosof

1929 - 2019
Gerard ("Jerry") Mortimer Grosof passed away on October 6, 2019 at age 90, after several years of declining health. Born on March 9, 1929 in Brooklyn, NY to Martha Marel Grosof and William Samuel Grosof (a general practitioner physician and World War II veteran), Jerry grew up in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn and then lived the great majority of his adult life in New York City, most recently in the Bronx. After graduating from Stuyvesant High School in 1946 and earning a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1950, he pursued graduate studies in experimental physics at Columbia University under the direction of the Nobel laureate I.I. Rabi until 1959. He married Miriam Schapiro Grosof in 1952 and they had two sons, Benjamin N. Grosof and David H. Grosof. The marriage ended in divorce in 1971. At Columbia, he made scientific contributions to the early understanding of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), which is the basis for the technology of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that has been widely used in medicine for many years. He then worked until 1968 in applied physics R&D. He contributed to some of the earliest development of the laser, at TRG (Technical Research Group). His work at the Zaret Foundation involved multi-disciplinary collaboration to pioneer the first medical application of lasers, in treating detached retinas, a kind of "spot-welding" technique that has since become a common treatment. In 1966 he chaired a Gordon Research Conference on "Lasers in Medicine and Biology." After 1968, he continued to work on the business as well as technical needs of innovators of physical and medical technology, primarily in early-stage ventures. His enthusiasm and interests in physics, biomedical science, technology, finance and new ventures inspired his children to pursue knowledge in those areas as well. He was an early devotee of whole grains and natural, less processed foods, and took up long-distance running as a member of the New York Road Runners. At age 47, he finished the NYC Marathon in 1976. Deploying his gregarious charm and lively sense of humor to advance an unusual art, Jerry also became something like an impresario in the 1980s for the Spanish light opera (zarzuela) productions of his future second wife Carmen Bejarano. He suffered a stroke in 1986. After hard work to achieve substantial recovery, he served as a buy-side equity financial advisor and as a caregiver for his mother, and married his second wife, with whom he lived in Arizona and New Mexico as well as New York City. He is survived by his second wife, his sons, three grandchildren, and a step-daughter. He was predeceased by his brother Elliott Grosof.