Sound pioneer Ray Dolby dies at 80

Ray Dolby, an American inventor and audio pioneer who founded Dolby Laboratories, died at the age of 80 in his home at San Francisco, the company said Thursday.

He had been living with Alzheimer's disease for several years and was recently diagnosed with acute leukemia.

Dolby started his namesake company in 1965, eventually building it into an industry leader in audio technology. His work in noise reduction and surround sound led to the creation of a number of technologies that are used in music, movies and entertainment today.

"Today we lost a friend, mentor and true visionary," Kevin Yeaman, president and CEO of Dolby Laboratories, said in a statement.

Yeaman said that Dolby invented an entire industry around being able to deliver a sound experience. His work spanned from helping reduce hiss in cassette recordings to bringing "Star Wars" to life on the big screen in Dolby stereo.

Dolby won a number of notable awards for his work, including several Emmys, two Oscars and a Grammy.

"Ray really managed to have a dream job," said Dagmar Dolby, his wife of 47 years. "Because he could do exactly what he wanted to do, whichever way he wanted to do it, and in the process did a lot of good for many music and film lovers. And in the end, built a very successful company."

Dolby was born in Portland, Ore., and his family eventually moved to San Francisco. It was there that he began his long career arc, starting at Ampex Corp., where he worked on videotape recording systems while he was still a student.

After graduating from Stanford University, he left Ampex to study at Cambridge University. After serving as a United Nations adviser in India, he returned to England and founded Dolby in London. In 1976 he returned to San Francisco, where the company established its headquarters.

He is survived by his wife, Dagmar; his sons, Tom and David; their spouses, Andrew and Natasha; and four grandchildren.

His family described Dolby as generous, patient, curious and fair.

"Though he was an engineer at heart, my father's achievements in technology grew out of a love of music and the arts," said Tom Dolby, a filmmaker and novelist. "He brought his appreciation of the artistic process to all of his work in film and audio recording." 

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press