George Schick

Schick, George on July 16th, 83 of Westwood, NJ, devoted father of Jeanette Waldman and Ron Schick, loving grandfather of Nichole, Michele, Dylan, Mason and Ruby. George was born in Budapest, Hungary and was a survivor of the Holocaust. He excelled at school and was a water polo captain. He escaped Hungary in 1956 and learned French at a collegiate level to finish his undergraduate studies at the University of Grenoble, in France.

He moved to New York, learned english at a graduate studies level and recieved a scholarship to MIT where he earned his Masters of Science in Metallurgy in 1961. During his time at MIT he formed a Water Polo team and was recruited by Bell Labs who paid for his PhD studies.

From NYU he earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the School of Engineering and Science as well as membership with the International Metallurgical Honor Society in 1971. In 1972, NYU awarded him a Founders Day Certificate.

His primary research identifed that 'Hydrogen Producing Bacteria was the cause of appreciable signal attenuation in optical fibers and that they could be suppressed by sulfate-reducing bacteria." This research led to advancements in a number of applied sciences including the corrosive protection coating all automobiles and all fiber optic cabling to this day.

In 1994 he received the Francis L. LaQue Memorial Award from the American Society for Testing and Materials for outstanding contributions to the field of corrosion testing and evaluation and became a Fellow of the ASTM in 1997.

He was NACE chairman from 1983-1993 and served the National Association of Corrosion Engineers for over 25 years and received its technical achievement award in 1998.

In 1985 he was named Distinguished Member of the Professional Staff by BELCORE. Throughout his career, during summer months, he was a professor at the University of West Virginia. He was a great man in every way and the world has lost a national treasure.