Jerrier A. Haddad

A computer pioneer and lifelong architect of technology and education, he had an illustrious 38 year career in senior management at International Business Machines Corporation.

Mr. Haddad was born in New York City on July 17, 1922 to Abdulmassih Abdo Haddad and Rashida Shaker. He was reared in the vibrant immigrant community from Syria which settled in New York and flourished as scholars, essayists, journalists and poets.

After graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School, he attended Cornell University. In 1942, while a full-time student and instructor, he was employed by IBM. In 1945, upon receiving a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree, he joined IBM’s Endicott Engineering Laboratory.

Mr. Haddad was a member of the IBM 604 Development Team and headed the IBM 701 large scale computer Development Team in Poughkeepsie. He later served as General Manager of the Special Engineering Products Division and managed the Endicott and Poughkeepsie laboratories.

In 1963, he became director of engineering and technology at IBM corporate headquarters. From 1967 to 1977 he was IBM vice president for engineering programming and technology. Upon his retirement in 1981, he was vice president for technical personnel development.

In retirement, Mr. Haddad served on the Cornell University Council and as chairman of the Cornell College of Engineering Advisory Council. He was a trustee of Clarkson University and the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture.

He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1968 and served on its Committee on Technology and International and Economic and Trade Issues and on its Computer Science and Engineering Board. He was Chairman of the National Research Council Committee on the Education and Utilization of the Engineer and was a member of the NRC Board on Army Science and Technology.

Mr. Haddad was a Fellow of the America Association for the Advancement of Science and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, where he chaired the Committee on Continuing Education. He served two terms as an IEEE representative director of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, serving as president in 1995.

He was a member of the American Society for Engineering Education, Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, and Eta Kappa Nu Honorary Societies. He has received Honorary Doctor of Science Degrees from Union College, Clarkson University and Webb Institute. In 1990, he received the Order of the Cedars Medal from the Republic of Lebanon for his scientific and technical achievements. Upon approval by Queen Elizabeth II, he was invested as a Confrère of the Order of St. John, a royal order of chivalry to promote humanitarian and charitable work. He holds 18 patents on inventions in the computer and electronics fields.

Mr. Haddad wrote and lectured the world over on engineering, scientific, educational and management topics. From 1968 to 1990 he was a director of American District Telegraph Company. He served on the science and technology transition team for President Ronald Reagan. From 1987 to 2012, he was senior consultant to Lutron Electronics Company.

Mr. Haddad was predeceased by his first wife, Margaret Louise (Van Hamlin) Haddad and by three sisters: Lila Helen Abdelnour of Mamaroneck, Najla Haddad and Rashida Marie Haddad of Brooklyn.

He is survived by his devoted wife of 43 years, Carol Jane (McCowen) Haddad of Briarcliff Manor and Tupper Lake; and five children: Mary DeGarmo of Boston, Massachusetts, Helen AbuShaheen of White Plains, Suzanne Baktash of Gaithersburg, Maryland, A. John Haddad of Burlington, Connecticut and Alexander Haddad of Lansdale, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Haddad treasured family above all else. He leaves 14 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and countless mentees. His greatest joy was to gather family on holidays and at his family camps over almost 50 years on Tupper Lake in the Adirondack Mountains.

He was a teacher, leader, innovator, inventor, lifelong learner and one who inspired others and made a difference in their lives. His was a beautiful mind.

A celebration of his life will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 22 at Scarborough Presbyterian Church, 655 Scarborough Road at Route 9, Briarcliff Manor. Interment will be private.

Funeral arrangements by Stuart-Fortune-Keough Funeral Home, Tupper Lake, www.stuartfortunekeoughfuneralhome.com.

In memory of Mr. Haddad, gifts may be made to The Wild Center, 45 Museum Drive, Tupper Lake, NY 12986, www.wildcenter.org/our-work/annual-fund or to Clarkson University www.clarkson.edu/giveback.

The extended family is deeply grateful to the devoted and steadfast team of caregivers from Tupper Lake who gave such extraordinary care and comfort to our beloved patriarch. Mercy is unending.