Jerry Stringfellow

Gerald B Stringfellow

April 26, 1942 ~

October 3, 2025

Salt Lake City, Utah-Gerald "Jerry" Stringfellow passed away on October 3 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Widely respected as a gifted researcher and much-loved teacher, Jerry was internationally recognized for his pioneering work in organometallic vapor phase epitaxy and optoelectronic semiconductor materials-technologies vital to light-emitting diodes (LEDs), solar cells, and fiber-optic communications.

From a young age, he showed a love of science, spending hours in the garage experimenting with the chemistry sets he purchased with his paper route money-much to the delight of his parents, Jeanne and Paul. He met the love of his life, Barbara Farr, at age 14. They shared over 63 wonderful years, building their home, traveling the world, and raising three children.

After earning his PhD from Stanford University in 1968, Jerry began his career at Hewlett Packard Solid State Research Laboratory in Palo Alto. There, he was honored with the Humboldt Research Award and spent six months at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany. In 1980, he was recruited back to his undergraduate alma mater, the University of Utah, where he became a distinguished faculty member in both Electrical & Computer Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering.

At the U, Jerry served as Dean of the College of Engineering from 1998 to 2003 and twice as chair of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering. He wrote the book, often referred to as the OMVPE manual, titled "Organometallic Vapor Phase Epitaxy: Theory and Practice," and had more than 400 published papers, book chapters, and over 15,000 citations. He retired in June 2025 and was named Professor Emeritus.

Jerry's achievements earned him numerous honors, including election to the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors, being named a Life Fellow of the IEEE, and receiving the University of Utah Rosenblatt Prize and the Governor's Medal for Science and Technology. He was especially proud to be honored in 2016 with the prestigious Frank Prize from the International Organization on Crystal Growth-awarded once every three years to a single researcher worldwide.

Outside of academia, Jerry was an avid outdoorsman. He led his family on many camping adventures and enjoyed backpacking and fishing trips with his brothers, and later with his son and grandsons. When there wasn't snow on the ground, he hiked the hills surrounding the Salt Lake Valley, skied well into his 70s, and logged thousands of miles on his bikes over the years.

Jerry was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Dale (Jean). He is survived by his beloved wife, Barbara; his children, Anne (Jeff), Heather, and Michael (Jennifer); his grandchildren, Gabriel, Lily, Jackson, and Willem; his sister, Paulette (Dave); and his brother, Jeff (Karen).

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Electrical Engineering or Materials Science & Engineering departments at the University of Utah, the Division of Nephrology or Cardiovascular Medicine at University of Utah Health, or the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Jerry and his family were grateful for the care he received for PKD and a kidney transplant (his daughter Anne was a living donor) and related medical challenges.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Jerry's legacy lives on in his groundbreaking research, the countless students he challenged to think big, and colleagues he enjoyed working with so much that he only just retired at 83. Above all, it lives on in his family, who miss him deeply.