Universal Display Announces Passing of Founder Sherwin I. Seligsohn

Universal Display Corporation announced that founder Sherwin I. Seligsohn passed away on Dec. 3, 2022. The entire UDC community mourns the loss of Seligsohn, an esteemed visionary, leader and friend, and extends deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.

With an exceptional intellect and fervent curiosity, Seligsohn leaves an indelible mark on the display and wireless industries. Born in 1935, Seligsohn’s immense drive for learning eclipsed conventional teaching methods, so he left high school and pursued his life’s interests, including the stock market.

Throughout his entire life, Seligsohn loved the Jersey Shore and he would regularly spend time on the beach with his young children. Seligsohn’s curiosity to track the financial markets and get real-time stock quotation updates, without having to leave the beach, sparked the idea of a portable data machine. His pursuit and passion for wireless technology led Seligsohn to form his first multi-billion dollar company in 1972, International Mobile Machines Corporation (IMM), now known as InterDigital, Inc. (Nasdaq: IDCC).

In 1990, Sherwin stepped down as chairman of IMM and began to look for his next venture. After reading about novel research work by Drs. Forrest and Thompson in self-emissive organic materials in Nature magazine, Sherwin decided to explore this ground-breaking technology with a visit to the electrical engineering school at Princeton University. There, he observed a green dot, with a 9-volt battery hanging from it, light up for seconds before it expired.

From that tiny organic green dot, Seligsohn envisioned the future of display technology and founded Universal Display Corporation in June 1994. Fast forward to today, Universal Display has grown and evolved from an R&D start-up to a global leader in the OLED industry.

“Sherwin’s extraordinary vision, entrepreneurial passion and unique leadership led to the creation of two of the most impactful enabling technology companies in the global OLED and digital cellular ecosystems,” said Steven V. Abramson, president and CEO of Universal Display Corporation.

“I had the privilege of working closely with Sherwin for more than 40 years. He was not only my brilliant mentor, but also my wonderful and generous friend. With a long-term strategic vision, Sherwin cultivated and nurtured UDC’s guiding principles of curiosity, respect, humility and determination. His mindset of constantly ‘thinking outside the box’ and courageous conviction have been embedded into the company’s DNA and are key to UDC’s remarkable success. Sherwin’s incredible legacy will continue to drive the company forward on its path of growth and innovation. We will miss him tremendously.”

In addition to founding Universal Display Corporation, Seligsohn served as its chairman of the Board of Directors from June 1995 until June 2022, when he was named chairman emeritus. He also served as CEO of UDC from June 1995 through December 2007, and as president from June 1995 through May 1996.

From June 1990 to October 1991, Seligsohn was chairman emeritus of InterDigital, Inc., formerly International Mobile Machines Corporation. He founded InterDigital, and from August 1972 to June 1990 served as its chairman of the Board of Directors. Seligsohn was also a member of the Industrial Advisory Board of the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials (PRISM) at Princeton University.