Harry Lonsdale
| Harry Lonsdale | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 19, 1932 Westfield, New Jersey |
| Died | November 11, 2014 (aged 82) Indio, California |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Rutgers University |
| Occupation | Businessman/scientist |
Harold K. Lonsdale (January 19, 1932 – November 11, 2014) was an American scientist, businessman, and former politician. A Democrat, he ran for United States Senate in the U.S. state of Oregon three times, losing twice in the primaries and once as the Democratic candidate, losing in the 1990 general election to incumbent Mark Hatfield. In 2011 Lonsdale sponsored a research challenge to determine the origin of life on Earth.
Lonsdale was born in Westfield, New Jersey, the son of a Sicilian immigrant mother and a Welsh father who had been orphaned at age 2. In 1953, he received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Rutgers University and four years later received a Ph.D. in chemistry from Penn State University. Lonsdale joined the United States Air Force, where he once witnessed an above-ground nuclear test, an event which he found thrilling, but also one which left him with strong anti-war feelings.
Following his Air Force stint, he moved to San Diego, California to work for defense contractor General Atomics on membrane research. After General Atomics, Lonsdale was a scientist at Alza Corporation in Palo Alto, California for several years. By the mid 1970s, Lonsdale and his wife had grown weary of congestion and the lack of open space in California's Silicon Valley; on one occasion, his family moved a planned outdoor picnic to their kitchen after no suitable outdoor location could be found. Soon afterward, Lonsdale quit Alza and the family moved to Bend, Oregon, where with his partner Richard Baker, he started Bend Research, Inc., a company focused on development of new technologies for industries such as the pharmaceutical industry. In 1989, Pfizer completed the purchase of a minority interest in the company, making Lonsdale a millionaire.
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