Written by Ole Granholm, Österbottningen Newspaper, Gamlakarleby, Finland
Translated by June Pelo
Any time you go to the movies, turn on the CD player or watch TV you will likely come into contact with the life’s work of Ray Dolby. You may have seen the words Dolby Sound so many times you don’t even notice it. But did you know Ray Dolby is a Swedish Finn descendant with roots in Terjärv and Kaustby?
From 1949-1952 Ray Dolby was employed by the Ampex Corporation. During 1952-1957 he was engaged in the development of the videotape technology. In his spare time, he studied at the Stanford University. He moved to Cambridge University where he got his doctorate in physics. In 1963 Dolby accepted a UN commission to India. He returned to London in 1965 where he founded Dolby Laboratories. In 1974 the company headquarters moved to San Francisco.
Dolby, an entrepreneur, and inventor revolutionized the music and movie sound technology. More than 850 million Dolby licensed products have been sold all over the world. 29,000 movie theaters employ the Dolby Digital Surround Sound. In the last two years more than 8 million Dolby Digital home movies have been sold.
Dolby has about 50 patents and thousands of trade names assigned to his name.
Lots of honors have been bestowed on Dolby. He has received Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy awards. In 1997 President Clinton awarded him the National Medal of Technology. Dolby is an honorary doctor of Cambridge University and the University of New York.
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- Ray Dolby was born in Portland , Oregon January 18, 1933, to Earl Milton Dolby (1905-1994) and Esther Eufemia Strand.
- Esther’s parents were August Alfred Strand (1868-1944) and Emma Sofia Kentala (1879-1967).
- Emma Sofia’s parents were Abraham Kentala (1829-1896) and Sofia Mattsdotter Kettu (1838-1899).
- Abraham’s parents were Lisa Greta Andersdotter Kortjärvi (1789-1859) and Matts Mattsson Bengtilä (Penttilä) (1786-1866).
- Lisa Greta’s parents were Anders Andersson Kortjärvi (1760-1842) and Magdalena Andersdotter Drycksbäck (1760-1808).
- Anders Andersson’s parents were Anders Larsson Kortjärvi (1725-1814) and Margaretha Carlsdotter Kortjärvi (1727-1791).
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