Steven H. Voldman Obituary (1957 - 2025)

It is with great sorrow to share the sad news of the death of Steven Howard Voldman, on November 24, 2025 in Lake Placid, New York from renal failure following a five year struggle with Parkinson's Disease. Arrangements are under the care of Frary Funeral Home Tupper Lake A pre-eminent expert in the field of Electrostatic Discharge and a brilliant inventor, Steve held 256 U.S. patents and authored 11 textbooks on electrical stress overload, the main reason why electronic devices fail. His textbooks were translated into multiple languages. A guest lecturer to electrical engineering students throughout Asia, Steve connected and mentored numerous aspiring students. He taught for a semester in Khon Kaen, Thailand where he played an advisory role to doctoral students at university. After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master's Degree in electrical engineering and an EE (Engineer) degree, Steven worked from 1982 to 2007 in IBM's microelectronics. Through IBM's Resident Study Program, he completed a M.S. in Engineering Physics (1986) and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering (1991) from the University of Vermont while working at IBM. After IBM, he later worked for Samsung, Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor, and as an expert witness regarding electrostatic discharge. While in Vermont, Steve helped resettle Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union, attended gatherings at the Tibetan Association of Vermont and played hockey for years on the IBM team. Steve, the son of Holocaust survivor Carl Voldman, was a religious and proud Jew. Steve took his father on a journey back to Staszow and several nearby Holocaust sites in Poland to help his father heal from the wounds of a devastating childhood. As he struggled with his own Parkinson's Disease, Steve undertook the task of writing a book chronicling his father's story of struggle and survival during the war. In his later years, Steve joined his wife Betsy, a career USAID employee, on trips throughout Africa and to Haiti. Steve is survived by his wife, Betsy Hulnick Brown, his two children Aaron/Mia Voldman and Rachel Voldman, his step children Danielle/Todd King and Michael Brown/Renee Slajda. His children and grandchildren were the light of his life. Steve and Betsy were members of two Temples: Beth Joseph Synagogue in Tupper Lake, NY and Lake Placid Synagogue (where he regularly blew the shofar at High Holiday services). In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinsons, the Tibetan Association of Vermont, and/or the Lake Placid Synagogue, where Steve had served on the Board. A graveside burial and memorial service will be held at the Jewish Cemetery in Lake Placid on Old Military Road at noon on November 25, 2025.