Eric Lidow, a photovoltaics whiz kid who fled Nazi Germany with $14 in his pocket and went on to become a power-electronics pioneer and multimillionaire philanthropist in the United States, died Jan. 18 at the age of 100. Mr. Lidow co-founded IR in 1947 and served as Chairman of the company’s board of directors until his retirement in May 2008.

Over the course of more than six decades, Mr. Lidow transformed International Rectifier from a start-up company that developed selenium photoelectric cells and selenium rectifiers into a world leader in power management technology. Mr. Lidow served as the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer until 1995, after which time he assumed the position of Executive Chairman.