Leon Riebman, 87, engineer, entrepreneur

Leon Riebman, 87, of Penn Valley, an international businessman and electrical engineer, died of cancer Thursday at his home.

Dr. Riebman was chairman of AEL Industries in Lansdale until retiring in 1996. The electronics company, now a part of BAE Systems, was a major provider of scanners and jammers for the military, systems designed to disrupt an enemy's voice or radar communications.

In 1950, Dr. Riebman was teaching at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering when he and two other instructors, Conrad J. Fowler and Robert Goodman, decided to become entrepreneurs. Dr. Riebman's salary was the highest of the three, he told a reporter in 1985, so he stayed at Penn while his two associates quit to start the venture. All living expenses came from his salary, split three ways.

At night, he said, he would visit physicians and other potential investors to sell stock in the fledgling firm. The company's first products, which he described as medical "gadgets," included a device to help physicians diagnose heart problems.

Goodman left the company early on. Fowler continued to be an officer until he retired in the 1980s.

As chairman, Dr. Riebman oversaw the company as it grew to include 3,000 employees in six states and overseas. AEL was among the first U.S. corporations to develop a subsidiary in Israel.

Dr. Riebman graduated from Coatesville High School and earned a bachelor's degree in engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in 1943. Though he was selected to be valedictorian, his daughter, Barbara said, he skipped his graduation to enlist in the Navy. During World War II he served in the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, developing radar systems.

After his discharge, he earned a master's degree and doctorate in electrical engineering from Penn.

Dr. Riebman served on the Army Science Board and several other boards, including the Friends of Hebrew University and Ampal-American Israel Corp.

A tennis enthusiast, he took his racket with him when he traveled on business, his daughter said, and often played with top-level foreign-government officials. He won tournaments, she said, at the tennis club he helped establish in Loveladies, N.J., where he had a vacation home.

In addition to his daughter, Dr. Riebman is survived by a son, Robert; two sisters; a brother; and three grandchildren. His wife of 60 years, Claire Edeson Riebman, died in 2003.

The funeral will be at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Joseph Levine & Son, 7112 N. Broad St. Burial will be in Har Nebo Cemetery.