Frank Rudy, the inventor of the Nike Air Sole technology, died at the age of 84 at his home in California, according to the Oregonian. Rudy is credited with inventing the Nike Air shoe cushioning system in the late 1970s.
“Frank Rudy holds a singular place in the pantheon of Nike innovation,”
Mark Parker, president and chief executive of Nike, said in a statement.
Although it was used in a variety of shoes, the Air Sole didn't catch
on with consumers until 1987, when Nike used television ads featuring
the Beatles' “Revolution” to promote the Air Max, which made the
gas-filled urethane pouch visible, according to the Oregonian
Rudy was originally an aerospace engineer who left the industry in 1969
to pursue a career as an independent inventor who ended up with more
than 250 patents, according to a news release announcing his death.
In recent years, Rudy was an avid supporter of cancer research at the
Ordway Research Institute in Albany, New York and the Cleveland Clinic.
