https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Bal_DixitBal Dixit - Revision history2026-08-01T11:18:24ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Bal_Dixit&diff=489234&oldid=prevYogiindia at 14:11, 18 February 20262026-02-18T14:11:42Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Researcher and businessman (born 1938)}}<br />
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'''Bal Dixit''' (born 1938) is a researcher and businessman working in [[technical textile]]s. In 1977, Dixit started work on developing a product he would later call Zetex in response to the impending [[asbestos]] ban. This product exhibits many of the properties of asbestos, without the side effects of lung cancer or mesothelioma.<ref>Dixit, B., "Performance of Protective Clothing: Development and Testing of Asbestos Substitutes," Performance of Protective Clothing. ASTM STP 900, R. L. Barker and G. C. Coletta, Eds., American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, 1986, pp. 445-460.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/money/business/2013/11/18/bal-dixit-revisits-time-at-newtex-industries/3632025/|title=Bal Dixit revisits time at Newtex Industries|work=Rochester Democrat and Chronicle|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en}}</ref> In 1978, Dixit founded the company Newtex to market Zetex. <br />
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== Early life and education ==<br />
Dixit was born in the village of [[Katol]] in central India in 1938. After receiving his degree in Textile Technology from the [[University of Punjab]], he emigrated to the United States in 1964, joining [[Union Carbide Corporation]] as an Advanced Technologist. At [[Union Carbide]], Dixit helped develop carbon fiber for lightweight structural composites that were later incorporated in General Dynamics' F-111B fighter aircraft. Dixit earned his master's in Textile Technology from the University of Massachusetts in 1966 and soon after joined Garlock, where he was tasked with establishing a modern asbestos plant in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Dixit went on to earn an [[MBA]] from the [[Rochester Institute of Technology]] in 1974.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.rit.edu/news/story.php?id=67137&source=enewsletter|title=RIT's Golisano Institute for Sustainability names lab in honor of Sudhakar 'Bal' Dixit|website=www.rit.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-07-05}}</ref><br />
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== His company ==<br />
In 1978, Dixit left Garlock to launch his own company, Newtex Industries, in [[Victor, New York]].{{cn|date=October 2025}} At Newtex, he developed Zetex fiberglass fabric, a safe and viable alternative to [[asbestos]].{{cn|date=October 2025}} By 1983, Newtex grew to $2.4{{nbsp}}million in sales.{{cn|date=October 2025}}<br />
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Dixit led Newtex from the time he founded the company in 1978 until he stepped down to retire in 2006. At that time, Dixit's son-in-law, Jerry Joliet, took over as President and CEO.<ref name=":0" /><br />
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=== "The Dixit Fixit" ===<br />
In 1980, just two days before the annual stockholders' meeting, a large fire caused extensive damage to the Newtex plant. The company was fully operational again 3 weeks after the fire. Newtex employees dubbed the impressive recovery as "The Dixit Fixit", and Dixit's perseverance after the fire was documented in two books by RIT business professor Andrew J. Dubrin, ''Getting it Done: The Transforming Power of Self-Discipline'' and ''The Inner Core of the Resilient Manager''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rit.edu/~w-umag/fall2010/20_rising_from_the_flames.php|title=RIT - University Magazine|website=www.rit.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-07-05}}</ref><br />
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== Community involvement ==<br />
In 1996, Dixit was appointed Director of the [[Federal Reserve Bank]] by Chairman [[Alan Greenspan]]. He served as Chairman of the Board of the [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]] Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank for five years. He also served on the boards of the [[Rochester General Hospital]] and the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce and has been a [[Rochester Institute of Technology]] Trustee.<ref name=":0" /><br />
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In June 2018, the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at the Rochester Institute of Technology dedicated the ''Bal Dixit Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Fire Protection'', made possible by a $2{{nbsp}}million gift from Dixit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newtex.com/about/news-press/bal-dixit-laboratory-for-advanced-materials-and-fire-protection-opens-at-ri|title=About {{!}} News & Press Releases {{!}} Bal Dixit Lab for Advanced Materials and Fire Protection Opens at RIT {{!}} Newtex|website=www.newtex.com|language=en|access-date=2018-07-05}}</ref><br />
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== Recognition ==<br />
Dixit received the Herbert W. VandenBrul Entrepreneurial Award in 1992 and was inducted into the [[Rochester, New York|Rochester]] Business Hall of Fame in 2003.<ref name=":0" /><br />
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== References ==<br />
<!--- See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes on how to create references using <ref></ref> tags which will then appear here automatically --><br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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== External links ==<br />
* [http://www.newtex.com/ Newtex Industries]<br />
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[[Category:American businesspeople]]<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]</div>Yogiindia