He entered Chaim Berlin High School in 1947 and graduated in 1951. Kressel earned a bachelor"s degree in physics from Yeshiva College, a master"s in applied physics from Harvard University, an Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Doctor of Philosophy in material science, also from the University of Pennsylvania.
Kressel joined Radio Corporation of America Laboratories in 1959, and spent 23 years there. He was in charge of development and commercialization of research developments in a variety of fields including light sources, light detectors, and integrated circuits. The development of the first practical laser diodes and the first epitaxial silicon solar cell are also attributed to him.
He eventually became vice president of solid-state electronic research and development.
Kressel joined Warburg Pincus in 1983.
Kressel received an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva University. He is a 1974 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Fellow and was the founding president of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Lasers and Electro-Optics Society in 1977. He received the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Centennial Medal in 1984 and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers David Sarnoff Award in 1985 for "contributions to electronic devices". He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1980 and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He is on the board of directors of Socially Responsible Investment International, Aicent, EnStorage, MACH, Suniva and Telcordia Technologies. He has been on the board of directors of Yeshiva University"s Sy Syms School of Business since 2004, and is the chairman of the board of trustees of Yeshiva University. In 2008, Kressel created a scholarship at Yeshiva University in his own name, the Henry Kressel Research Scholarship.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. American Physical Society]
He has been a board member of Socially Responsible Investment International since 2001.
