Columbia mourns the loss of Edward Botwinick ’56CC, BS’58 and emeritus member of the LDEO Board, who passed away Jan. 24, 2025. Botwinick was an IT entrepreneur, a pioneer in the area of time-division multiplexing and a strong supporter of Columbia University and Columbia Football.
Botwinick received his BA in physics from Columbia College in 1956 and his BS in electrical engineering in 1958. He began his career working for US Semiconductor in 1958 and co-founded Silicon Transistor Corp. in 1960. From 1963 to 1967, he served as president and principal shareholder of Quantum Inc., a tape drive and scalable file storage manufacturer.
In 1969, Botwinick helped found the data communications firm Timeplex, Inc., which became a leading provider of T1-based networks. For decades, T-1 based networks were the industry standard for transferring voice and data thanks to their high capacity. At the time, Botwinick was working at Goldman Sachs, where he was vice president of investment research from 1967 to 1977. From 1977 to 1988, he served as Timeplex’s chairman and chief executive officer, overseeing a series of increasingly successful T-1 multiplexers, which allowed for multiple signals coming from multiple sources to be combined and transmitted over a single communication line.
In 1988, Timeplex was acquired by Unisys Corp. and Botwinick assumed the roles of senior vice president and president of its Unisys Networks division. He retired from Unisys in 1989. In 1991, Botwinick founded VideoServer Inc., a producer of telecommunications and networking equipment, serving as the firm’s chairman and chief executive officer until 1993. After a successful career as a serial entrepreneur, he became the president of the Botwinick-Wolfensohn Foundation, a family foundation established by his father, Benjamin Botwinick.
“Ed cared deeply about the future of the planet and supported Lamont’s mission of basic Earth and ocean research over many decades. He also had an irrepressible, irreverent sense of humor that never flagged and always entertained.”
– Maureen Raymo, co-founding dean emerita, Columbia Climate School and former director of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
A university trustee emeritus from 1988 to 1994, Botwinick sat on the board of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and passionately championed its mission. “Ed’s support of the observatory enabled many of our scientists to continue their critical work in the Earth, ocean and atmospheric sciences, and we have all benefited from his many years of thoughtful leadership and guidance,” said Steven Goldstein, interim director of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. “He has been a highly appreciated member of our community.”
“Ed cared deeply about the future of the planet and supported Lamont’s mission of basic Earth and ocean research over many decades,” said Maureen Raymo, co-founding dean emerita, Columbia Climate School and former director of Lamont. “He also had an irrepressible, irreverent sense of humor that never flagged and always entertained.”
Botwinick is also a former vice chair of the University Engineering Council. In 1996, Columbia Engineering named a multimedia electronic learning facility after Botwinick: The Botwinick Gateway Laboratory in the Seeley W. Mudd engineering building.
Botwinick was an avid pilot and his Columbia connections were vast. His father, Benjamin Botwinick graduated from Columbia Business School in 1926 and his sister, Elaine R. Wolfensohn from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1961.
#LamontDoherty #Mourns #Exec #Entrepreneur #Edward #Botwinick #BS58 #State #Planet
