"People" feature on Yoda notes Stuart Freeborn based Yoda's eyes on those of Albert Einstein.
Fred Hauptfuhrer and Karen Peterson, "Yoda Mania," People Magazine, June 9, 1980
Yoda was crafted by British designer Stuart Freeborn, who was also largely responsible for Chewbacca, the wookie. Actually, Freeborn fabricated not one but a half dozen Yodas out of bundles of wire, electronic circuits, hydraulics, bubbly latex skin and real human hair. He modeled Yoda’s worldly-wise eyes after Albert Einstein’s.