In Memoriam: Vladimir Ostrovsky

Memorial services were held September 29 at Nevsky Yablokoff Memorial Chapels, 1700 Coney Island Ave, Brooklyn. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.NevskyYablokoff.com for the Ostrovsky family.

The entire NYU Tandon community mourns the passing, on Thursday, September 29, 2022, of Industry Professor of Applied Physics Vladimir Ostrovsky, a beloved and respected figure at our school for two decades. Ostrovsky, for several years an adjunct professor at NYU Tandon’s predecessor Polytechnic University, was hired as a full-time lecturer in 2006 and later promoted to Industry Professor. While here, he taught introductory courses (“Electricity, Magnetism, & Fluids” and “Waves, Optics, & Thermodynamics”) as well as upper level courses (“Mathematical Physics” and “Thermodynamics & Statistical Mechanics”).

“He was a very astute physicist,” said John Di Bartolo, Chair of the Department of Applied Physics at Tandon. Author or co-author of more than 50 articles in major physical journals and conference talks, Ostrovsky concentrated on theoretical condensed matter physics, magnetism and optics.

A native of Kiev, Ukraine, Ostrovsky’s passion for physics began in high school, according to friend and colleague Vladimir Tsifrinovich, Industry Professor of Applied Physics, who notes that after high school he studied physics in Kazan University in Russia, where he received his Master of Science degree. After that he returned to Kiev where he worked in the Ukrainian Academy of Science that was a branch of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Science, till his emigration to the USA in 1993.

“He worked mainly in the field of magnetism where he obtained very interesting results on magnetic structure of dielectric materials,” said Tsifrinovich. Besides teaching at NYU Tandon, Ostrovsy held a position at the New York City College of Technology.  A resident of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, he enjoyed swimming, fishing, and traveling, according to Tsifrinovich. He is survived by his wife Irina, two children, three grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.