Amar G Bose, the Indian-American visionary entrepreneur and acoustics pioneer who was famous for making high-quality Bose audio systems and speakers for home users, auditoriums and cars, breathed his last in Wayland, Massachusetts.
The 83-year-old Bose's death was announced lare Friday by his company Bose Corp's president Bob Maresca, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Bose was on the faculty for over four decades.Bose died at his home Friday, said his son Vanu G Bose.
"Bose founded Bose Corporation almost 50 years ago with a set of guiding principles centred on research and innovation," Maresca said in a statement. "That focus has never changed." "Amar was an exceptional human being and an extraordinarily gifted leader," MIT president L Rafael Reif said in a condolence message. "This proud MIT graduate, professor and innovator was a true giant who over decades enriched the Institute he loved with his energy, dedication, motivation and wisdom. I have never known anyone like him. I will miss him. MIT will miss him. The world will miss him," Reif said.
Bose was born on November 2, 1929, in Philadelphia and his father Noni Gopal Bose, was a Bengali freedom fighter who was studying physics at the Calcutta University when he was arrested and imprisoned for his opposition to the British rule.Noni Bose escaped and fled to the US in 1920, where he married an American schoolteacher. At 13, Amar Bose began repairing radio sets for pocket
money for repair shops in Philadelphia.
As founder and chairman of the privately held company, Bose focused relentlessly on acoustic engineering innovation. His speakers, though expensive, earned a reputation for bringing concert-hall-quality audio into the home. And by refusing to offer stock to the public, Bose was able to pursue risky long-term research, such as noise-cancelling headphones and an innovative suspensionsystem for cars, without the pressures of quarterly earnings announcements.
In 2010, Bose Corp reported revenue of over $2 billion. Two years ago, Bose had donated most of the stock in his company to MIT. And by refusing to offer stock to the public, Bose was able to pursue risky long-term research, such as noise-cancelling headphones and an innovative suspension system for cars, without the pressures of quarterly earnings announcements.
A perfectionist and a devotee of classical music, Bose was disappointed by the inferior sound of a high-priced stereo system he purchased when he was an MIT engineering student in the 1950s. In 1968, he introduced the Bose 901 Direct/Reflecting speaker system, which became a best seller for more than 25 years and firmly entrenched Bose as a leader in a highly competitive audio components marketplace. Unlike conventional loudspeakers, which radiated sound only forward, the 901s used a blend of direct and reflected sound.Later inventions included the popular Bose Wave radio and the Bose noise-cancelling headphones, which were so effective they were adopted by the military and commercial pilots.
