University alumnus Andrew Dingwall '49 will long be remembered for his creative problem-solving and competitive spirit. The 75-year-old Lawrenceville resident died early Monday morning. An esteemed scientist and prolific inventor, Dingwall was responsible for designing the first microprocessor in the automotive market and providing the power supply for the Galileo spacecraft.
During his career, Dingwall secured between 100 and 150 patents, said Israel Kalish, his former supervisor at what is now Sarnoff Corporation.
According to the Times of Trenton, Dingwall's wife Virginia called police at 2 a.m. Monday morning. Dingwall had left his bedroom up to an hour earlier and had not returned.
The officers' search yielded footprints that led to a brook behind his house, and police found Dingwall partially submerged in the brook. Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad pronounced Dingwall dead on the scene.
Dingwall had suffered from dementia, the Times of Trenton said.
He received his undergraduate degree at Princeton University, was a Fulbright scholar and earned his doctorate from the University of Sheffield in England, Kalish said. Dingwall also earned numerous masters' degrees and was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame, Kalish said.
Some of Dingwall's patents were valued at $200 million in a recent evaluation, he said.
"Dingwall was the fiercest competitor in the field I ever knew," Kalish said.
It was not just that Dingwall knew how to solve problems, he said, "it was that each problem he solved, he solved in an elegant fashion."
"We just didn't have any problems big enough for him," Kalish said.
Dingwall had a background in materials science and electrical engineering and a great aptitude for math and logic.
"He was a creative person, and multidimensional," Kalish said, "He knew his values. He valued being an inventor and working hard."
"He surrounded himself with high quality people, people who shared his ambition," he said.
Kalish particularly recalled one exchange.
"Once Andrew came back from vacation and told me he had placed second in a tennis tournament," Kalish said. "I jokingly asked what was wrong. 'I had a sprained ankle,' he replied."
"Andrew did not believe in second place; he was not one easily satisfied," Kalish said.
Dingwall is survived by his wife.
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