Steve Kordek

Steve Francis Kordek was an American businessman of Polish descent who was best known for the design of pinball machines.
Kordek is credited with designing over 100 pinball machines, which in total sold about 180,000 units. The last game Kordek helped design was 2003's Vacation America, after his retirement from full time work in 2000. Among the companies that Kordek designed for are Genco, Williams and Bally.
He inadvertently entered the pinball business when visiting Chicago in 1937, and took shelter from the rain in Genco's building.
Kordek was credited with many innovations to pinball machines. He revised the pin game machines of the 1930s by putting two inward-facing flippers at the bottom of the playing field that were controlled by two buttons on the side of the machine. Other innovations still used today are drop targets and multi-ball mode.
Kordek died on February 19, 2012, at age 100.
Kordek can be seen at the age of 81 when the television show Wild Chicago toured the Williams factory in 1993