Four APS Presidents Remembered In Council Resolutions

At its meeting in April, APS Council noted with sadness the death of four APS Presidents during the previous year. Council passed a memorial resolution for each of them, the texts of which follow.
 

Robert Fox Bacher Aug. 31, 1905 - Nov. 18, 2004

The Council of the American Physical Society notes with great sadness the passing of Robert Bacher of the California Institute of Technology. Robert Bacher advanced wartime physics with his leadership at the MIT Rad Lab and at Los Alamos. He contributed nationally as an advisor at the United Nations, a member of the first Atomic Energy Commission, and a member of the President’s Science Advisory Committee. He then chaired the division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy at Caltech and brought it to international renown. He served as President of the American Physical Society in 1964. He ended his distinguished career at Caltech as Provost. The Council expresses its deep appreciation for his participation in the work of the Society and conveys its sincere sympathy to his family and to his many close friends.

Hans Albrecht Bethe July 2, 1906 – March 6, 2005

The Council of the American Physical Society notes with great sadness the death of Hans Albrecht Bethe of Cornell University. He is best known for his work on stellar nucleosynthesis, which earned him the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1967. In addition, he made important contributions to quantum electrodynamics as well as atomic, molecular and condensed matter physics. He was the lead theoretician in the US development of the first nuclear weapons. He later became an outspoken opponent of nuclear weapons proliferation and testing, and a proponent of peaceful applications of nuclear energy. Bethe also served on the first US President’s Science Advisory Committee, established under Dwight D. Eisenhower. In addition to the Nobel Prize, Bethe received numerous other prizes and awards including the German Physical Society’s Max Planck medal in 1955 and the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1961. He served as President of the American Physical Society in 1954. The Council expresses its deep appreciation for his participation in the work of the Society and conveys its sincere sympathy to his family and to his many close friends and admirers worldwide.

D. Allan Bromley May 4, 1926 - Feb.10, 2005

The Council of the American Physical Society notes with great sadness the death of D. Allan Bromley, Sterling Professor of the Sciences at Yale University. A Canadian by birth, he left an indelible print on the landscape of American science and nuclear physics, in particular. He founded the A.W. Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory at Yale in 1963 and served as its director until 1989 when he left to become Science Advisor to George H.W. Bush. Accorded Cabinet rank by President Bush, Dr. Bromley is widely regarded as one of the strongest advisors ever to have held the White House post. He returned to Yale in 1994 as Dean of Engineering, revitalizing the program during his six-year tenure. He received numerous awards including the National Medal of Science in 1988. As president of IUPAP and AAAS he was a spokesman for U.S. science and international cooperation. The Council takes particular note of his service to the APS, of which he was president in 1997, and of his unswerving advocacy for federal support of science. The Council conveys its sincere sympathy to his wife, his family and his many friends around the world.

James A. Krumhansl August 2, 1919 - May 6, 2004

The Council of the American Physical Society notes with sadness the death of James A. Krumhansl of Cornell University. He had a major impact on a broad spectrum of topics in theoretical materials physics as his research traveled through phonon and soliton dynamics, disordered crystals and alloys, first-order and martensitic phase transitions, biophysics, and pattern formation in solids. He was also a civic-minded scientist, serving the Government in numerous advisory capacities and as the National Science Foundation’s Associate Director for Physics, Mathematics, and Engineering. We especially note his service to the Society as the Editor of the Physical Review Letters, the Chair of its Division of Condensed Matter Physics, and the President of the Society (1989-1990). The Council expresses its deep appreciation for his participation in the work of this Society and conveys its sincere sympathy to his family and to his many close friends across the globe.