My father, Edgar Neufeld, who has died aged 92, was a Jewish refugee from the Nazis who became a scientist and senior IBM executive. He then dedicated himself to charitable work in education, for which he was made an OBE in 2003.
After the family escaped from Vienna in 1938, Edgar grew up with his parents, Martha (nee Fuchs) and Sigi Neufeld, and his sister, Inge, in Manchester in a block of flats that was home to many other Jewish refugees. Sigi was a businessman and Martha later owned a gift boutique in London. Life gradually became more normal, and Edgar attended Manchester grammar school and Manchester City football matches.
He graduated in physics from Manchester University in 1953, then did a doctorate in radio astronomy at the Jodrell Bank radio observatory. He was on duty the night that the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, was launched by the Soviet Union, in 1957. While many radio telescopes could detect transponder signals from Sputnik, Jodrell Bank was unique in the world in being able to use radar to track the second stage of the rocket that had launched it. The US military afterwards descended on the Cheshire countryside to learn key information about the size of the carrier rocket, as none of the American facilities could provide this.
It was during his postgraduate studies that Edgar met Sue Robinson, who later became a ceramicist. They married in 1958 and had two children, me and my brother, Robert.
After he got his PhD, in 1961 Dad began his long and successful career at IBM as a research scientist, and the family settled in East Finchley, north London. This was at a time when computers were taking off and IBM was at the cutting edge. He rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a group director for IBM Europe (1986-89).
On leaving IBM he had a second “career” promoting social justice and education for all, serving on the board of governors of Middlesex Polytechnic, including acting as chair during its transition from polytechnic to university, as a trustee and vice-chair for the homelessness charity Shelter (1992-95), and as chair of governors for Parkview academy (a fresh start school that succeeded a school that was failing, 1999-2006). At Middlesex, he was also appointed honorary professor and pro-chancellor in 2000. At graduation ceremonies he always spoke from the heart, drawing on his own experience as a refugee, to inspire the graduating classes that included many people who – like him – were the first in their family to pursue higher education.
Sue died in 2023. Edgar is survived by Robert and me, by five grandchildren, Yannick, Luke, Daniel, Elsa and Avi, and by Inge.
