[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 43 (Monday, March 8, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H1096]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2015
                 CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF NORM NITSCHKE

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in celebration of the life of a great 
and rare American, Toledoan Norm Nitschke.
  Mr. Nitschke passed away in February at the age of nearly 101. He led 
a full and exceptional life. As an inventor, an engineer, and a 
renowned pioneer of glass and solar manufacturing, Norm Nitschke 
literally changed the world.
  He was pivotal in the development of tempered glass and creating a 
market for it in the automotive industry. It is a technology many of us 
take for granted today, but it has been instrumental in saving lives 
and making modern cars safer.
  Then, he went on to found Glasstech Solar and Solar Cells, pioneering 
thin-film cadmium telluride technology, central to modern solar panels 
like those installed on homes and buildings across our country and now 
the world.
  His pathbreaking work with Dr. Harold McMaster created America's most 
important company in solar energy, First Solar in Toledo, Ohio.
  In retirement, he gave back generously to our community and is a 
benefactor of so many educational institutions: University of Toledo's 
engineering school, Bowling Green State University, Toledo Symphony, 
and Toledo Museum of Art.
  I simply cannot say enough about this great American.

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