Barry Horowitz

04/20/1943 - 07/21/2025

BORN

04/20/1943

DIED

07/21/2025

About

City College of New York New York University

Barry Horowitz Obituary

Barry Martin Horowitz, 82, of Crozet, Virginia unexpectedly died on July 21, 2025 at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

He was born on April 20, 1943 in New York City, NY (Brooklyn), one of four beloved sons of Isaac Harry Horowitz and Clara Weintraub Horowitz.

Barry is survived by his wife of 60 years, Sheryl, his children, Hillary and Charles, five grandchildren, and two of his brothers, Fredric and Eliot.

Barry was a past member of Local 802, the American Federation of Musicians. He was granted his membership by audition at the age of 18. He used his union card to gain employment during the summers of his City College of New York years, graduating in 1965.

He earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering from New York University in June, 1969 and subsequently joined the MITRE Corporation as an entry level engineer. He rose through the ranks to become its CEO from 1992-1996.

Early on in his career he led a team at MITRE that created the Collision Avoidance System (BCAS), the prototype for the current system preventing mid-air collisions between 2 commercial airplanes world wide.

During Desert Storm, Barry conceived of a method to destroy the missile launchers for the SCUD missiles being used against American forces by the enemy, and shared his method with the Air Force general in charge of Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia. For both the concept and the implementation of his plan, Barry received the Air Force Exceptional Service Award, the highest medal of honor the Air Force can bestow to a civilian.

In 1992, Barry also found time to write a book, Strategic Buying for the Future: Opportunities in Government Electronics System Acquisition.

As a result of his many efforts, Barry was elected into the National Academy of Engineering in 1996.

While living and working for MITRE in Massachusetts, an amateur theatre troupe was formed in his town. He purchased a season subscription. Those productions inspired Barry to resurrect his trumpet and join the orchestra that supported the troupe's musical productions. Sheryl and their children attended a performance of "Fiddler on the Roof" and enjoyed seeing their father perform.

Barry was invited to join the University of Virginia's School of Engineering department, Systems and Information Engineering as a tenured, full Professor in 2001. He served as chair of that department from 2009-2017. During his time at UVA, from 2012-2016, Barry also served as a Virginia Cyber Security Commissioner for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

He also led a federally-sponsored research effort that gave rise a patent in 2018, which is held by the University of Virginia.

Barry meant a lot to a wide variety of people and their careers. A memorial tribute is in the planning stages.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Washington Post on Aug. 10, 2025.

Memories and Condolences
for Barry Horowitz

4 Entries

Peter Beling

Earlier today

I worked closely with Barry throughout his years at UVA, and I will remain ever grateful for his mentorship and the many ways he broadened my view of engineering. His Monday evening research meetings in the old UVA Reactor building were legendary-dozens of students and faculty crowded into a single conference room, eating pizza, all ears tuned to Barry´s stories about the DoD and the FAA. He shared a wide and wild range of ideas about cyber-physical systems-concepts entirely new at the time. It has been fascinating to watch nearly all of those ideas emerge over the past dozen years into mainstream research and practice. His genius and energy were truly unique. I will miss him dearly.

Rick Jones

Yesterday

Barry was a wonderful friend and mentor. I remember before presenting my first paper as a doctoral student, I was nervous-worried about every word and how I might come across. Barry eased my nerves by sharing the story of his own first conference, when he spoke far too quickly and tried to cram in too much detail, finishing with only seconds to spare. As he sat down, the panel coordinator leaned over and said, "Kid, you must have practiced forever to time that presentation so perfectly!" We both laughed, and in that moment my anxiety melted away. I went on to give a much more relaxed and confident presentation.
I will deeply miss Barry, and I send my heartfelt condolences to his family.