the cathode a proprietary composition of iodine and poly-2-vinylpyridine, neither of which is electrically conductive. However, after processing by mixing and heating to ~ 150 °C for 72 hours the components react with each other to form an electrically conductive viscous liquid which, while still molten, is poured into the cell where it cools to form a solid. When the liquid contacts the lithium anode it creates a monomolecular layer of semiconducting crystalline lithium iodide. As the cell is discharged by the current load of the pacemaker, the reaction between the lithium anode and iodine cathode forms a growing barrier of lithium iodide, This is resistive, and causes the terminal voltage of the cell to decrease approximately as an inverse function of the volume of the barrier. Pacemaker designers use this characteristic to permit detection of incipient 'end of life' of the pacemaker's lithium cell. Philanthropy Greatbatch donated funds to Houghton College in New York to create a graduate program in music. The Houghton College Center for the Arts (CFA) was designed with his donations to include a concert hall, art gallery, multi-floor gathering space, and various choir and instrumental practice rooms. It was subsequently named the Greatbatch School of Music after him. Houghton College assisted Greatbatch in his research, when he was unable to generate support, providing him with lab space and research assistance. In 2009, Wilson and Eleanor Greatbatch donated approximately $10 million to create a modern glass reception and interpretive pavilion, called the Eleanor and Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion, separate from the Darwin D. Martin House Complex. It was designed by Toshiko Mori, chair of the department of architecture at Harvard's Graduate School of Design. Death Wilson Greatbatch died at the age of 92 on September 27, 2011. Greatbatch served as an elder at Clarence Presbyterian Church, where he also sang in the church choir and taught Sunday school. References Specific references General references Biography of Greatbatch at MIT website Greatbatch.com Company Website Beck H, Boden WE, Patibandla S, Kireyev D, Gutpa V, Campagna F, Cain ME, Marine JE.50th Anniversary of the first successful permanent pacemaker implantation in the United States: historical review and future directions. Am J Cardiol. 2010 Sep 15;106(6):810-8. External links A video interview with Wilson Greatbatch from vega.org.uk Implantable pacemaker inventor Wilson Greatbatch dies from BBC 28 September 2011 Washington Post Obituary Battery at the CIA Museum, CIA.gov 1919 births 2011 deaths People from