Obituary of Karl D. Kryter

Karl David Kryter passed away peacefully on June 16th, 2013 at the age of 98. He is survived by his daughters Dianne Kryter, Victoria Liebhaber (Myron), Kathryn Rendon (Richard); grandsons Zachary, Samuel (Mabrouka), and Abraham Liebhaber, Richard II and Jessica Rendon; and great-grandchildren Marwan Karl and Selma Grace Liebhaber. Born in Indianapolis, Karl received his bachelor's degree from Butler University in Indiana in 1939, and his doctorate from the University of Rochester in New York in 1943. He was a Research Fellow in Harvard University's Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he married Grace Irene Miller in 1946. They had been married for 57 years when Grace passed away in 2003. From 1945 to 1948, Karl was a Research and Teaching Fellow at Harvard University. During the war years, he worked for the War Manpower Commission on communications research and development for the Armed Services. From 1948 to 1957, he was Director of the Operational Applications Laboratory at the Air Force Air Research and Development Command in Washington DC. He subsequently worked for Bolt, Beranek and Newman in Massachusetts as Head, Department of Psychoacoustics, and from 1965 until retirement, as Director of the Sensory Sciences Research Center at Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, California. Until his death, Karl maintained a position of Associate Professor at San Diego State University in California. Karl's professional life was dedicated to the advancement of the sciences and their role in the betterment of the human condition. He was a world-renowned scientist of Psycho-Acoustics and Audition and Engineering Psychology, receiving many awards and honors during his career. He was an active member of the American Psychological Association, the American Acoustical Society, the Executive Council of the National Academy of Science, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Standards Association and the International Electrotechnical Commission. He worked on numerous modern-day noise issues including aircraft noise and the sonic boom, and acted as a Friend of the Court in cases of noise pollution. He traveled widely to participate in conferences and seminars at The Karolinksa Institute Stockholm Sweden, The University of Auckland New Zealand, Kobe and Doshisha Universities and the Institute of Public Health, Japan, and the Institute of Acoustics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. His publications include two books: "The Effects of Noise on Man" and "Physiological, Psychological, and Social Effect of Noise," and numerous publications in professional journals. Karl lived life to the fullest. He held several design and technical patents, was an accomplished golfer, sailor and designer and builder of his homes, as well as an exceptional story teller. He was greatly loved and admired by his colleagues, friends and family. His wit and intelligence never left him. He was working on a research project until a few days before his death. The family wishes to thank the staff at his home at Maravilla, as well as his physician, Erno Daniel, M.D. and those who cared for him at the Sansum Clinic. The family will hold a private memorial.