Ted McIrvine died Aug. 19, 2019, at the CarePartners Solace Center in Asheville, NC. He was born in Winnipeg, Canada on December 19, 1933, and was educated at the University of Minnesota (Phi Beta Kappa 1954) and Cornell University, completing a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics at age 24. His first career was managing research and development in industry. His 1964 Ford Motor Company “future transportation” study forecast the importance of digital technology, hybrid automobiles, and the need to research batteries with higher storage density. He was at Xerox Corporation from 1969 to 1987. As Director of Technical Planning, he assisted in planning the Palo Alto Research Center and championed the first laser printer product. He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society “for his thoughtful approach to applied physics and to corporate planning.” He served on the Governing Board of the Institute of Physics and on the Committee on Industrial Physics of the American Physical Society.
From 1987 to 1991, Ted was a dean at Rochester Institute of Technology, where he established a Ph.D. program in Imaging Science. He was an outside director of Detection Systems Inc. from 1981 to 2001 and consulted to other high technology companies from 1987 until 1997.
While in Rochester, he was President of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in a time of crisis, hired David Zinman as music director, and negotiated a multi-year labor contract with the musicians, leading to the “second golden age of the Rochester Philharmonic.”
In 2000, he moved to Western North Carolina, where he became a writer and music critic. He wrote a Sunday column on the arts for Hendersonville’s Times-News from 2001 to 2009. From 2007 until his final illness, he reviewed concerts for the online journal Classical Voice of North Carolina (cvnc.org). A piano soloist and accompanist, a member of the Asheville Area Piano Forum, he taught music history and theory at the College for Seniors, a program of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNC Asheville. He also taught topics in physics and technology.
His first marriage, to Margaret Jensen, ended in divorce. His wife Barbara Brown Miller, and his son, Edward Mclrvine, Jr., predeceased him. He is survived by his son, David Mclrvine, of Rochester, NY, granddaughter Sara Mclrvipe Crabtrey, of Greenbrier, AR, and brother, John D. (Britt-Marie), of Ontario, Canada.
A memorial service was held on September 7, 2019, at 11:00 at St. Matthias Episcopal Church in Asheville, where he served on the vestry, sang in the choir, and tutored high school students in math. In lieu of flowers, contributions to St. Matthias Episcopal Church’s scholarship fund for youth will be appreciated.
