Sherwin Seligsohn Obituary, Death – It was revealed today that Sherwin I. Seligsohn, the company’s founder, passed away on December 3, 2022. Sherwin was a highly respected visionary, leader, and friend, and the whole UDC community is saddened by his passing. Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and all of those who were close to him. Sherwin leaves an indelible mark on the display industry as well as the wireless industry thanks to his exceptional intellect and intense curiosity.
Sherwin, who was born in 1935, had an enormous thirst for knowledge that made traditional teaching methods ineffective. As a result, he dropped out of high school to pursue his life’s passions, which included investing in the stock market. Sherwin had a deep and abiding affection for the Jersey Shore throughout his entire life, and he made it a point to take his young children there on a regular basis. Sherwin’s desire to keep up with the financial markets and receive real-time updates on stock quotations inspired him to think up the concept of a portable data computer, which he could use without having to leave the beach.
Sherwin founded his first multi-billion dollar company in 1972 under the name International Mobile Machines Corporation (IMM), which is now known as InterDigital, Inc. His pursuit and passion for wireless technology led him to establish this company (Nasdaq: IDCC). Sherwin stepped resigned from his position as Chairman of IMM in 1990 and immediately started looking for new opportunities. Sherwin made the decision to investigate this innovative technology by going to the electrical engineering school at Princeton University after reading an article in Nature magazine about the novel research work that Drs. Forrest and Thompson had been doing in the field of self-emissive organic materials.
There, he saw a green dot that had a 9-volt battery dangling from it flash up for a few seconds until the battery ran out of power. Sherwin’s vision for the future of display technology led to the establishment of Universal Display Corporation in June of 1994. His inspiration came from a tiny organic green dot. To fast forward to the present day, Universal Display has expanded and developed into a global leader in the OLED industry, having begun as an R&D start-up.
Sherwin’s extraordinary vision, entrepreneurial passion, and unique leadership led to the creation of two of the most impactful enabling technology companies in the global OLED and digital cellular ecosystems,” said Steven V. Abramson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Universal Display Corporation. Universal Display Corporation is a global leader in the design, manufacture, and distribution of liquid crystal display (OLED) and organic light emitting diode (ALD) products.
Over the course of more than 40 years, I had the pleasure of collaborating closely with Sherwin. Not only was he an outstanding teacher to me, but he was also a wonderful and generous friend. Sherwin cultivated and nurtured UDC’s guiding principles, which include determination, curiosity, respect, and humility, with an eye toward the long-term strategic vision. His mindset of constantly ‘thinking outside the box’ and courageous conviction have been ingrained into the Company’s DNA and are the primary contributors to UDC’s remarkable success over the years. The incredible legacy that Sherwin left behind will continue to propel the Company forward on its trajectory toward growth and innovation. We are going to miss him very, very much.