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He was born Sept. 9, 1924, in Budapest, Hungary.
He received his doctorate from the Polytechnic University and became one of the world’s most renowned scientists in the field of hydrocracking and catalysis. He came to the U.S. in 1957 after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution to begin work with the Union Carbide Corp. in Buffalo and transferred to the company's Tarrytown facility in 1961. While still in Hungary as a young man in his 20s, he received the Hungarian National Award and The Kossuth Prize. He was the first recipient of the New York Catalysis Society's Award for Excellence in Catalysis, the E. V. Murphee Award from the American Chemical Society in 1988 and the Eugene J. Houdry Award from the American Catalysis Society in 1989.
A year later, he received the Humboldt Foundation of Germany award and in 1991 the Varga Memorial Medal from the Hungarian National Academy of Sciences. In 1993, he received the Chemical Pioneer Award from the American Institute of Chemists for pioneering discoveries in zeolite catalysis. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009. In 2011, he received the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit, Hungary's highest civilian award for lifetime achievement.
He is survived by his wife, Sheelagh Ennis; and his sons Benedict of Tarrytown and Sebastian of Albuquerque, N.M.
He was predeceased by two infant daughters, Julia and Margit.
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