Robert Ettinger

Robert Ettinger
Photo of Ettinger taken in the 1940s.
Born	Robert Chester Wilson Ettinger (1918-12-04)December 4, 1918 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Died	July 23, 2011(2011-07-23) (aged 92) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Resting place	Patient at the Cryonics Institute
Nationality	American
Education	Teacher for physics and mathematics
Alma mater	Wayne State University
Organization	Cryonics Institute, Immortalist Society
Known for	starting the idea of cryonics
Notable work	The Penultimate Trump The Prospect of Immortality Man Into Superman Youniverse
Children	David (1951) Shelley (1954)
Parent(s)	Rhea Chaloff Ettinger

Robert Chester Wilson Ettinger (December 4, 1918 – July 23, 2011) was an American academic, known as "the father of cryonics" because of the impact of his 1962 book The Prospect of Immortality. He is considered by some a pioneer transhumanist on the basis of his 1972 book Man into Superman.

Ettinger founded the Cryonics Institute and the related Immortalist Society and until 2003 served as the groups' president. His body has been cryopreserved, like the bodies of his first and second wives, and his mother.

Ettinger was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. Despite being raised in a Jewish family, he later on became an atheist. He served as a second lieutenant infantryman in the United States Army during World War II. Severely wounded in battle in Germany, he received the Purple Heart and recovered after several years spent in a Michigan hospital. He earned two master's degrees from Wayne State University (one in physics, one in mathematics) and spent his working career teaching physics and mathematics at both Wayne State University and Highland Park Community college in Michigan.

Ettinger had two children with his first wife, Elaine, David (1951) and Shelley (1954). David gave his first cryonics interview to journalists at the age of 12 and was an attorney. He served as legal counsel to the Cryonics Institute and the Immortalist Society. Robert Ettinger's daughter, who has had no interest in cryonics, is a writer and revolutionary socialist.

Ettinger met his second wife, Mae Junod, in 1962 when she attended one of his adult education courses in basic physics. Junod typed and assisted with editing the manuscripts for both The Prospect of Immortality and Man into Superman. She became active in the Cryonics Society of Michigan (CSM) and edited and was production manager for the CSM monthly newsletter, The Outlook. In the 1970s The Outlook was renamed The Immortalist and Junod continued editorship until the mid-1990s. The Outlook is the longest continuously published cryonics magazine. Junod was an author, feminist, and marriage counselor.