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Ray Dolby, an inventor who founded Dolby Laboratories, died on Thursday, September 12. He was 80. According to a spokesperson for the company, Dolby passed away at his home in San Francisco. He suffered form Alzheimer's Disease and acute Leukemia prior to his death.

"Today we lost a friend, mentor and true visionary," president and CEO of Dolby Laboratories Kevin Yeaman said in a statement, as quoted by Associated Press. Dolby is survived by his wife Dagmar and two sons Tom and David as well as four grandchildren.

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

Dolby was born in Portland, Ore. and went to school in Bay Area. He worked at Ampex Corp. while he was still at school. He graduated from Stanford University and continued his education at Cambridge University, England. After serving as United Nation's adviser in India, he went back to U.K. and created Dolby. He moved back to the U.S. when the company established its headquarter in San Francisco.

Dolby had 50 U.S. patents throughout his career. He was also honored with numerous awards for his contribution in technology. Dolby received the National Medal of Technology from President Bill Clinton. In addition, his name was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in the U.S. and the Royal Academy of Engineers in the U.K.