September - 2013 - issue > In Focus

Audio Engineering Pioneer Dr. Bose Passes Away

SI Team

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Forward

Dr. Amar Bose, the man who founded one of the most famous consumer audio equipment brand - Bose Corporation in the United States, passed away on July 12, 2013 at the age of 83. He was one of the pioneers of the audio revolution and showed the world on the true potential of sound systems. MIT-trained electrical engineer, professor, and entrepreneur significantly altered the way people think about consumer audio, especially over the last few years as audio technology has become increasingly small and portable.

He started Bose Corporation in 1964. In 2011, he gave a majority of his stock in Bose Corporation to MIT. The company is privately held and according to a statement from company's president Bob Marseca, it will remain privately owned.

Born in 1929 in Philadelphia, Dr. Bose completed his studies in MIT(Massachusetts Institute of Technology) with both undergraduate and graduate degrees in electrical engineering. He was also part of the MIT faculty for 45 years. Bose was widely recognized for his excellent teaching as well as his pioneering research in acoustics and loudspeaker design. His mother was an American schoolteacher and father Noni Gopal Bose, was a freedom fighter and Calcutta University Physicist.

It is famously known that his father was into the business of importing coconut fiber doormats, but the venture did not take off due to the U.S. suspending non-military shipping during World War II.