Frank Rudy Jan. 24, 1925 - Dec 13, 2009
As much as we love our tennis shoes, it is not often that we actually get to pay tribute to the people behind the technology that creates them. One such person was Frank Rudy. Some of his lifework, is the reason the Nike shoes you wear today are some comfortable.
Frank Rudy, the inventor of Nike Air Sole Technology, passed away on December 13 at the age of 84 at his home in California. It was in 1977 that Rudy brought the idea to Nike to put small air bags in the shoe’s sole to Nike. The first prototype was created in 1979 and implemented into running shoes the same year. However, it was not until Nike publicized this technology that in a 1987 ad for the Air Max that it took off.
According to a news release about this death, Rudy was an aerospace engineer who left the industry in 1969 to pursue a career as an independent inventor. Over his lifetime, he collected more than 250 patents. In his later years, Rudy turned his attention from athletic shoes to cancer, funding research and working with doctors at clinics in Ohio and New York.
Frank Rudy: Jan. 24, 1925 – Dec 13, 2009
[via Oregon Live]
