Otto H. York was a distinguished chemical engineer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.
In 1947, with a $1000 loan, he launched the New Jersey-based Otto H. York Company. With a genius for both technical innovation and business, York would become a leader in the field of gas and liquid-liquid separation with his invention, the Demister.
Through his charitable foundation, York supported groups working to improve healthcare, environmental research, and education. He was an alumnus of Purdue University in Gary, Indiana and a long-time benefactor of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) where he established an endowment to support scholarships and faculty research. In 1989, NJIT named their Environmental Engineering & Sciences Center in his honor, as well as awarding him an honorary doctorate in 1997.
His daughter, former Rhode Island State Senator Myrth York, took over the foundation after her father’s death in 2007. The Foundation was relocated to Rhode Island where, in 2011, a strategic long-term plan was completed to re-establish its mission: To help young people develop as creative thinkers and doers, and to encourage them to make their mark on the world. We do this by working with community partners who activate the imagination of young people and support them as they envision and define their futures.