Murray Robbins

Murray Robbins, 87, of Berkeley Heights died March 14, 2018. He was born in Brooklyn to Sylvia and Samuel Rabinowitz. 

After a brief stint at RCA Labs, Dr. Robbins joined Bell Labs in Murray Hill in 1967 as a solid state chemist. He rose to become a distinguished member of the technical staff. He was a named inventor on more than 20 patents and authored or co-authored dozens of scientific papers. 

His innovations included improvements in telephone components and major leaps in magnetic tape technology. He also invented a way to replace gold with base metal in electronic contacts. He retired in the early 1990s.

He earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Brooklyn Polytech.

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He served in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1956. 

After retiring, he and his wife taught weekly chemistry lessons to third-graders in Berkeley Heights and Basking Ridge. 

Predeceased by his wife Naomi (Herstein), he is survived by his wife, Elna (Okin); two sons, Steven Robbins (Yuklan Young) of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., and David (Tara) Okin of Cherry Hill; four daughters, Susan Goldsmith of Basking Ridge, Sharon (James) Reback of Harrisburg, Pa., Elizabeth (John) D’Aloia of Trophy Club, Texas, and Inga Robbins of Galloway Township; a sister, Harriet Katz of Florida; and 10 grandchildren. 

Services were held March 16 with arrangements by Menorah Chapels at Millburn, Union. Memorial contributions may be made to Congregation B’nai Israel, Basking Ridge.