James J. Tietjen of Belle Mead, NJ passed away on Wednesday, August 10th, 2016 at home with his loving family by his side. Jim was born in New York City on March 29, 1933 and had been a resident of Montgomery Township for 51 years. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather as well as an accomplished scientist and executive.
Dr. Tietjen received his B.S. degree, cum laude, in Chemistry from Iona College in 1956. He was awarded his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Physical Chemistry in 1958 and 1963 from the Pennsylvania State University. In 1985 he was awarded Penn State’s highest honor, Distinguished Alumnus.
He began a long and successful career at RCA joining RCA Laboratories in 1963. Initially Jim worked primarily on the preparation of a broad range of semiconductors by chemical vapor transport reactions. This work led to the development of a series of new and improved electronic devices. He has been credited with key gallium nitride research producing blue light emitting diodes (LEDs) which ultimately made flat screen television production more feasible. This research also advanced the thinking regarding LED lighting we have today. This dedication to science led to Jim receiving RCA’s highest technical honor, the David Sarnoff Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement in 1967 and 1970. He was also awarded RCA Laboratories Outstanding Achievement Awards in 1965 and 1969.
Later in Jim’s career at RCA he held many executive positions including President and CEO of RCA American Communications, Inc. and President and CEO of the David Sarnoff Research Center. He then became President and CEO of Stanford Research International from 1990-1994. After SRI, he joined Stevens Institute of Technology as Dean of the Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management. He developed and led this graduate program as the nation’s first School of Technology Management which rapidly grew to 1,600 students.
Jim was the author of more than 30 published articles primarily related to materials and components research and served on numerous boards and committees including prominent roles within the FCC, NASA and the National Academy of Sciences. Jim’s biggest professional joy was working with and developing people. The creation of technical leadership training in the Howe School brought leadership opportunities to many young technical minds. Jim successfully led a negotiation resulting in General Electric’s donation of the RCA Laboratories to SRI which preserved one of the nation’s leading technical research facilities. While Jim’s career was distinguished, his biggest passion was his family and friends. He was always there for his family as a dedicated and loving husband, father and grandfather. His smile and laugh were infectious and he was deeply loved by all who had the good fortune to know him. Penn State football weekends with his family and many friends were a lifelong joy. He relished the lively discussions with the Saturday “lunch bunch”. Jim loved watching sports with his family, avidly rooting for his beloved New York Yankees, Penn State Nittany Lions, and the Chatham Athletics. He also was an accomplished sportsman himself and enjoyed playing tennis and golf. Jim even won a New York City pocket billiards championship at the young age of 21. Jim also loved his yearly vacations to Chatham, Cape Cod, a 40+ year tradition, and holidays in the house in the Poconos were full of warmth and love.
Surviving are his loving wife of 57 years Mary-Ellen, son Russell and his wife Stacy Tietjen of Pittstown, NJ and three grandchildren Dylan, Eleanor and Carson and son Keith Tietjen and his fiancé Lisa Kushman and granddaughter Keira as well as siblings Patricia Enne and George Tietjen. He was predeceased by his mother Anna Tietjen (Moloney), father George N. Tietjen and siblings Marie Williams and Eugene Tietjen. Visiting hours will be from 2-5pm on Sunday, August 14th and from 9:30-10:30am on Monday, August 15th at the Hillsborough Funeral Home, 796 US-206, Hillsborough, NJ. A funeral mass will be held on Monday, August 15th at 11am at St. Charles Borromeo, 47 Skillman Rd., Skillman, NJ. Burial will be immediately following at the Rocky Hill Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of James Tietjen may be made to the Montgomery Township EMS, P.O. Box 105, Belle Mead, NJ 08502 or on their website mems47.org.
