Born in Chernigov, Ukraine on 23 November 1922 to Evsey and Miriam Pantchechnikoff, Jacques and his parents emigrated to Constantinople, Turkey in 1923 to flee Czarist Russia. A year later, the family emigrated to Marseilles, France where they lived for nearly 20 years until the Nazi invasion. In 1942, Oakland, CA became their new home. Jacques served his new country in the US Army Signal Corps where he spent his service time in the Philippines.
Jacques is a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus of the University of California at Berkeley for his exceptional achievement in the discovery of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) which transformed the world of luminescence. Pankove’s scientific pursuit of LEDs and many other devices started at the RCA Lab in Princeton, NJ where he spent most of his scientific career. Jacquesearned his BS in Electrical Engineering in 1944 and MS in Electrical Engineering in 1948 from the University of California at Berkeley, followed by a PhD in Physics from the University of Paris in 1960. He returned to Berkeley in 1968 as a visiting McKay Lecturer and using his class notes authored a seminal textbook Optical Processes in Semiconductors in 1972, subsequently translated into several languages. He was a prolific inventor, author, speaker, and served as an editor of several research journals. He was awarded over 90 US patents.
Upon his retirement from RCA in I985, Pankove relocated to Boulder, CO for a joint appointment to the Solar Energy Research Institute and the Department of Engineering and Computer Science at University of Colorado. He was later appointed to a research chair at the University of Colorado College of Engineering. In 1998 he received a Rank Prize in Optoelectronics. Later he was Professor Emeritus and founded the Boulder research company Astralux. In 2010, Jacques relocated back to Princeton, NJ to be closer to family.
Motivated by insatiable curiosity, he enjoyed tennis, skiing and hiking. He was always active whether it was working on a home improvement or a gardening project. He was a creative artist taking classes in print making, sculpture and painting, from the Princeton Art Association which he supported over many years.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Ethel, sons Martin (Caroline) of Alexandria, VA and Simon (Melissa) of West Windsor, NJ, a sister, Lili Good of Oakland, CA and two grandchildren, David and Rebecca.
Funeral services and burial are Friday 10AM (July 15, 2016) at Greenwood Cemetery,1800 Hamilton Avenue,Hamilton Township,NJ
Arrangements by Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel,1534 Pennington Road,Ewing,NJ
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