Please send information to:  Department of Physics & Astronomy, Alumni Records
                                          800 Yale Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87131,
                                          or send e-mail to Panda Info, or fill out the online form.

Click on the names for more information.

PandA Alumni	(by graduation decade)		PandA Faculty
1930s David A. Lawson, Jr. 1940s Marx Brook Raymond Grenchik Herschel R. Snodgrass 1950s Allan F. Beck Robert J. Lanter David Pomeroy	1970s Luella Mary W. Button Riki Darling Thomas R. Ferguson William G. Larsen Harold G. Longbotham G. Christian Overton Dennis L. Roeder Ellery Storm		Prof. John G. Breiland (Nov. 21, 1905-1996) Ph.D.-UCLA John Breiland taught here at PandA from 1942 until his retirement in 1970. He was Acting Department Chair in 1957-58 and 1961-62.
William A. Rogers James F. Tribby Gus T. Zorn 1960s James R. Barcus Daniel P. Christman R.R. Harrington Russell G. Herron Charles L. Hyder Roger A. Morris Donald S. Robb Andrew M. Simko Munson M. Thorpe	1980s Richard J. Elston Arthur R. Gribble Paula L. Higgins Robert T. Marchini 1990s Dennis Khetselius Michael Ledlow Christopher K. Schultz		Prof. Christopher Dean (May 3, 1920-Dec.12, 1978) Ph.D.-Harvard Christopher Dean taught here at PandA from 1963 until his death in 1978. He was a member of the Musicians' Union, as well as the American Physical Society. John Linsley (1925-Sept. 15, 2002) MIT Research Professor, PandA Adjunct, and Nobel-prize nominee who developed ground-based detection of cosmic rays, charged particles in space that travel near the speed of light and create a shower of atomic particles when they hit Earth’s atmosphere. In 1962, John Linsley and collaborators discovered the first cosmic ray with an energy of about 1020 eV in the Volcano Ranch array on the West Mesa. The Volcano Ranch cosmic ray research station was in business from 1958 to 1972, $134,000 to build and had 19 cosmic ray detector sites, some sitting as much as two miles apart. The project was conceived by Linsley's mentor, the late MIT physics professor Bruno Rossi (1905-93), who played a leading role in the study of cosmic rays and the development of space physics.
			Prof. Roy Thomas (Aug 8, 1914-March 18, 2005) Ph.D.-UC-Berkeley, 1942 Roy Thomastaught here at PandA from 1948 until his retirement in 1980. He earned a PhD in Theoretical Physics in 1942, at UC-Berkeley, where he was a student of  J. Robert Oppenheimer. Roy's scholastic activities with Professor Oppenheimer are documented in David C. Cassidy's 2005 book (Pi Press, NY). Between 1942 and 1948, Roy taught in St. Louis at Washington University and St. Louis University. Roy was preceded in death by his wife, Evelyn, and his sister, Julia. His is survived by his brother, Victor, his daughter, Audrey, and four sons, William, Howard, Edward, and Vincent, as well as six granddaughters.
			Prof. Victor H. Regener (August 25, 1913 - January 20, 2006) Ph.D.-Institute of Technology, Stuttgart, 1938 Victor H. Regener, born August 25, 1913, in Berlin, Germany, died on January 20, 2006, in Tampa, Florida. His father was a Professor of Physics at Stuttgart University, and Victor completed his doctoral degree in Engineering Physics at the Institute of Technology, in Stuttgart, in 1938. He left Germany that same year because of the rise of the Nazi regime, first taking a two-year research position in Italy at the University of Padua, and then teaching at the University of Chicago. In 1946, he came to the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of New Mexico, serving as Department Chair from 1947-57, and again from 1962-79. In 1960, he was the first faculty scholar to deliver the Annual UNM Research Lecture. He built Capilla Peak Observatory in the Manzano Mountains, and was also responsible for designing a major addition to the original Physics and Astronomy building, as well as the lecture hall and lab building which was named Regener Hall in his honor. He was a brilliant scientist in a wide range of fields, and an outstanding teacher and mentor. When he retired in 1979, he was awarded the UNM Regents' Meritorious Service Medal, which included a dedication penned by author Tony Hillerman. Dr. Regener is survived by his wife Birgit, son Eric, daughter Vivian Rose, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

David A. Lawson, Jr. - 12/16/1913-4/30/1990
Fairfax, VA

1940s [ back to top ]

Marx Brook - 7/12/20-9/3/02 Marx Brook, longtime Professor of Physics and Professor Emeritus (retired in 1986) and Director of Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research at New Mexico Tech, passed away on Tuesday, September 3, 2002, while in the hospital following emergency abdominal surgery. Paul Krehbiel, one of his former students, wrote Marx's obituary. Known for his research on lightning and thunderstorms, including studies in conjunction with NASA in the 70’s, Marx invented a fast-scanning surveillance radar device.

Raymond Grenchik - d.4/28/2000
Raymond Grenchick died September 28, 2000, in Baton Rouge, LA. After earning the M.S.-Physics here at UNM in 1949 (thesis: "A New Method of Measuring the Intensity of the Zodiacal Light," under Victor Regener), he went to Indiana University for the PhD (1956).  While at Indiana he studied under the late Marshall Wrubel, and his dissertation was one of the earliest attempts to model the atmosphere of a white dwarf star. Most of his career was  spent in the Dept of Physics & Astronomy at Lousiana State University...1957 until his retirement in 1988.

Herschel R. Snodgrass - 5/31/1913-6/12/1990
King, Washington

1950s [ back to top ]
Allan F. Beck - 7/3/17-11/7/02
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Allan F. Beck died at St. Thomas Hospital, Nashville, Tennessee, of complications from kidney failure. Lt. Col. Beck was born July 3, 1917 in Escanaba, Michigan. He went to school in Escanaba and graduated as valedictorian of his high school class in 1935. After entering the Army Air Corps, he was stationed at Randolph Field and Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas. Upon leaving active duty he served in the USAF Reserve, retiring as a Lt. Col. He earned a master's degree in physics at UNM in 1951, and worked at Sandia National Laboratoriesas a nuclear physicist; he retired after 31 years of service. He married Louise Duggin (d. April 19, 2003) and their 59 year marriage brought them three children who survive, Ellen (John) Anderson, David (Cindy) Beck and Elizabeth Estrada; five grandchildren; brothers, Arol (Dudley, deceased), and Jack (Bette) Beck, of Escanaba, Michigan.

Robert Jackson Lanter (Capt, USN, 1942-46)- 11/09/1914-10/30/1986
Los Alamos, NM

David Pomeroy - 1897-1974 
He wrote the first UNM Dept of Physics & Astronomy doctoral dissertation (1950). Dr. Pomeroy subsequently taught at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and conducted research at the Army Medical Research Lab, Fort Knox.

William A. Rogers - d.9/6/96
William Rogers retired from Brookhaven on February 15, 1984, after 34 years of Lab service; he was 76 years old. He had joined BNLs Purchasing Group on August 1, 1949, and at the time of his retirement he was a senior contracts specialist in the Division of Contracts & Procurement.

James F. Tribby - 1914-1997
At the time of his death, James was living in Santa Fe; his passing was recorded with Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, University of Chicago.

Gus T. Zorn - 6/18/1924-1/30/2002
Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Scientist, Gus Zorn passed away on January 30, 2002, after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Padua, Italy in 1954. He spent one year as a visiting scientist at the Max Plank Institute of Physics (1958) while serving as an associate physicist at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (1956-1962). He was a recipient of the General Research Board Award for the year 1987-1988, an APS Fellow and a member of the New York Academy of Sciences. Gus was a participant in the OPAL and JADE experiment as well as a number of other important high energy physics experiments at the University of Maryland. In honor of his wife (Bice Sechi-Zorn, also a physicist) who died in 1984, Gus established a Francis Scott Key Scholarship Fund at the University of Maryland in her honor. This fund benefits outstanding science students with an interest in physics. His last wish was to establish the Gus T. Zorn and Bice Sechi-Zorn Professorship in Experimental Physics.

1960s [ back to top ]
James R. Barcus - 9/30/1930-1/3/1988
The Barcus Glacier, in the Hutton Mountains, was named by US-ACAN for James R. Barcus, who was an ionospheric physics researcher at Byrd Station in the summers 1966-67 and 1967-68. He was originally from Fort Worth, TX.

Daniel P. Christman (Col., U.S. Army) - 2/11/1930-1/17/1975
El Paso, TX

R.R. Harrington - 1932-1991

Russell G. Herron - d. 1989
He taught at UCLA and at St. John's Seminary College in Camarillo, CA, from 1965-1989; this is his grandaughter's tribute (located online at Your True Hero).

A TRIBUTE TO MY GRAMPA
By Winona Nash

My grandfather, Russell G. Herron, Jr., is both a challenge and a breeze to write about.
I have been told many times from most all of my extended family about his heroic attributes.
However, I have not been able to physically be with him since 1989, when he died. He died
of diabetes quietly in the night, and many people would agree that he had chosen that time
as the right time to move on from this life to another place. Nonetheless, my memories of
him and the things I have been told make me admire my grampa greatly.

My grampa grew up in Chicago, and decided to join the Navy. Some say he joined to pay
for college education, while it is possible he joined to move up and away from his troubled
family. I think it is a combination of both. In the Navy, Grampa became a Commander and
served his country with patriotism. I have read several essays that he wrote, allowing me to
see what an unwavering American he truly was. He served in the Korean War, never talking
much to us about his experiences. I think that too is admirable, as he truly was respectful
and committed to his duties, not taking any opportunities to boast regarding the gravity of war.

One of the few memories I have of my Grampa is his funeral, with a twenty-one-gun salute
from the Navy and the dramatic folding of his esteemed flag. Truly my grampa was and is a
model of patriotism, pride, and duty.

Grampa Herron was also a very smart man. He earned a PhD in Physics and an EdD in Education.
Using these tools, he became a professor at UCLA and composed his own theory involving the
electro-magnetism of matter. This theory, composed in the 1950s, was considered “ fifty years
ahead of its time;” accordingly, it is now starting to get some recognition. My grampa has
inspired me to look into Physics as a natural career choice.

Additionally, my grampa was outstanding in his pursuit for improving the lives of the mentally
retarded. You see, my Uncle Jim was born mentally retarded, possibly because of radiation
my grampa was exposed to while studying physics at University of California in Berkeley.
Grampa Herron became a national figure in the cause for mental retardation and handicapped
children, organizing a foundation in Ventura County that is still a leading group for the
developmentally disabled.

Besides all these accomplishments, my grandfather was active in politics. He was dutifully
honest, which possibly became his greatest weakness in the political arena. While it is nice
to daydream about him serving in the Oval Office, it is more rewarding to know that my
grampa was an upstanding citizen, and honest, too.

It is obvious to see how important my grampa was upon looking around my gramma’s house.
The study’s walls are covered with plaques from the California government honoring him in life
and death. There was a star named after him. He is the only Grampa that I have ever known,
and as I get older, I can only wish that I had the opportunity to get to know this amazing man.
I consider him a hero, a man whose greatness has passed into familial legend. To me, he
shines as a beacon of patriotism, genius, charity, and civic generosity.

Charles L. Hyder

Roger A. Morris - d. 11/10/99
Roger Morris, an original member of the STURP ("Shroud of Turin Research Project") team that examined the Shroud of Turin in 1978, died at his home in White Rock, New Mexico, after a short illness. He worked as a physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1961 until his retirement in December 1997 (Nondestructive Testing group). Roger is survived by his wife Kay Morris, their five children, his brother and his aunt. He was remembered as an enthusiastic and dedicated scientist and as an effective team leader. Roger's contribution to Shroud research was significant: in the early 1980s, he published reports on the direct x-ray fluorescence and radiographic measurements that he, together with Ron London and Bill Mottern, conducted on the Shroud.

Donald S. Robb - 1929-1988
Rochester, NY

Andrew M. Simko - 8/7/30-4/5/70
West Point Class of 1953; Lt. Col. Simko, of Bellaire, OH, died as the result of a helicopter crash in Binh Dinh Province, South Viet Nam. He is buried at the US Military Academy at West Point, and honored on Panel 12W, Row 98 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. "LTC Andrew Michael Simko was a distinguished graduate of the USMA in the class of 1953. During his illustrious career in the U.S. Army, he was the recipient of the following decorations: Legion of Merit; Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster; The Purple Heart. In addition, he was entitled to wear over his military ribbons the combat infantryman badge." Clay Marston, Biographical Researcher, 1/20/99

Munson M. Thorpe - 10/14/1928-2/22/1981
Los Alamos, NM

1970s [ back to top ]
Luella Mary W. Button - 1/17/1929-8/15/1999
She and her husband Donald lived in Abiquiu for 25 years and, at the time of her death (due to an automobile accident), she was retired from Los Alamos National Lab. Luella was originally from North Dakota.

Riki Darling - 6/23/1943-10/3/2001
Riki was one of the founding members of Utah's Wasatch Woolpack Handspinners. She was an adventurous knitter, a spinner and weaver of Navajo-type rugs, and she taught others how to do anything that she knew how to do.

Thomas Robert Ferguson - 9/18/37-5/13/06
Thomas was born in Roswell, NM, to Thomas Harold Ferguson from Poteau, OK and Wanda Maurine Wolf from Roswell, NM. He was preceded in death by his brother, John Benjamin Ferguson in 2001. He is survived by his sister, Patricia Meleski Heydt; and six nieces and nephews, Rico, Corin and husband, John Wood, Mike, Steve and wife, Karen, Nick and wife, Mona, Melanie and husband, Donald Trujillo. He was also close with his grand-nieces and grand-nephews; two great-grand-nieces; and his extensive family in Canada. Tom graduated with honors from Roswell Senior High in 1955. He graduated with honors in Physics from NMSU in 1959, and attended graduate school for three semesters. Over the next eight years, he worked for defense contractors and the federal government, and served in the U.S. Army at WSMR for two years. He returned to graduate school in 1969, earning his Masters degree and Ph.D. in Physics from UNM. His dissertation investigated the properties of ring molecules related to the deoxyribose portion of DNA. He retired from his scientific career in 1995 after working in laser research for the Air Force Research Laboratory at KAFB, NM. He published a series of scientific papers over the years, including many in the field of laser resonators. Tom had varied interests. He enjoyed puzzles and games, especially bridge and billiards. He was an avid hiker for nearly forty years, leading many hikes for the New Mexico Mountain Club. He ran a marathon at age 41, and ran the La Luz race to the Sandia Crest. He dabbled in painting, wood sculpture, and other artistic pastimes. In his last decade he took up wildflower identification, and spent many hours in the mountains and desert learning about and identifying plants. He is co-author of the wildflower section of the book Field Guide to the Sandia Mountains, published by UNM Press in 2005. He is credited for collecting and reporting the species Mitella pentandra for the first time in New Mexico. Memorial donations can be made to The Thomas R. Ferguson/NMSU Herbarium Internship Endowment, at P.O. Box 3590, Las Cruces NM 88003. A Celebration of Life was held on May 21, 2006 at 3:00 p.m. at 1129 Forest Road NW, Albuquerque, NM 87114.

William G. Larsen - 1953-1990
The William G. Larsen Memorial Student Award was established in 1990 by Mr. & Mrs. N.G. Larsen, in his memory, and is presented to the best Teaching Assistant during the UNM Physics & Astronomy departmental graduation ceremony each May.

Harold G. Longbotham - 9/4/1946-9/5/1997
Dr. Longbotham earned degrees in Mathematics, Physics, Statistics, and Electrical Engineering. His bachelor degree was in Physics and Mathematics from Stephen F. Austin, where he also played football. He also had a masters degree in Physics from the University of New Mexico, in Statistics from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and a masters and doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin (Dec. 1988), where he studied image processing under Dr. A.C. Bovik.

Dr. Longbotham held Assistant and Associate Positions at the University of Texas at San Antonio. In 1992, he participated in a start up venture, CMI, which specialized in nonlinear signal and image processing and modeling of human system. This company grew to a total of 22 scientist and engineers in 4 years without any borrowing of capital. In January of 1996, he sold the majority of his stock in CMI and returned to full time work at UTSA, where he became Chairman/Coordinator of Electrical Engineering.

At UTSA Dr. Longbotham had sponsored research from NIH, DOD, AFOSR, DOE, and several private companies.  Most of this research was in the areas of signal and image processing, with his ultimate interest turning to the application of robust nonlinear techniques in ANN's and Fuzzy Logic. He published approximately 50 papers in the area of signal and  image processing, was an Associate Editor of IEEE Image Processing, was Co-Chair of the San Jose Conference on Non-linear Image Processing for 3 years, and was a Visiting Scientist at Brooks AFB, Los Alamos National Lab, and Tampere University of Technology.

Dr. Jacqueline Longbotham Ackley and Mr. & Mrs. Harold H. Longbotham endowed The Dr. Harold G. Longbotham Scholarship at UTSA, and The Conceptual MindWorks, Inc.-Dr. Harold G. Longbotham Scholarship was established at Alamo Community College.

G. Christian Overton - 1948-2000
Dr. Overton was an associate professor in the Department of Genetics of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and the founding director of the Center for Bioinformatics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He received a B.S. degree in physics and mathematics from the University of New Mexico, a Ph.D. degree in biophysics from the Johns Hopkins University, and subsequently an M.S.E. degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the University of Pennsylvania faculty, he spent five years as part of the artificial intelligence research group at the Unisys Center for Advanced Information Technology. His research interests included the implementation of databases for genome informatics and gene expression, and the development of database technology for the evolution, transformation, and integration of databases. He died unexpectedly on June 1, 2000,  from complications arising from cardiomyopathy. Dr. Overton is survived by his wife, Carolyn; two sons, Aaron and Graham, and two daughters, Johanna Hernandez and Natalie Hernandez; his parents, William and Muriel Overton,  his brother John Overton, and sister Ellen Overton.

Dennis L. Roeder - 1945-1993
Los Alamos, NM

Ellery Storm - 3/10/1924-7/4/1989
Ellery and his wife Bernice both worked at Los Alamos until his death due to Parkinson's Disease; they had 17 great-grandchildren.

1980s [ back to top ]

Arthur R. Gribble - 10/9/58-April 1990
Los Alamos, NM

Paula Lee Higgins -  9/14/59 -7/17/06
Paula died tragically, while doing what she loved most -- bicycling. A life-long resident of Corrales/Albuquerque, Paula was the daughter of Philip Buckner Higgins, who preceded her in death, and Carol Higgins of Albuquerque. She was married to Gerald Francis Kiuttu August 1, 1990, in Stateline, NV, after an 8-year courtship; no children. She is survived by her sister, Leah and husband, Nat Tully of Albuquerque; Bruce and Bonnie Higgins of Flagstaff, AZ (nieces, Meira and Leila); and Mark Higgins with Tish Morris of Albuquerque. Paula was employed by Science Applications International Corporation in Albuquerque as a scientific programmer. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics here at UNM in 1986, and went on to earn a Master of Science in Computer Science in 2003. In addition to being an inveterate punster and gourmet muffin-maker, Paula was a passionate competitive cyclist with the Rio Grande Racing Team in Albuquerque since 1983; she raced more recently for the White Mountain Road Club of Phoenix, AZ. As U.S. Cycling Federation District Representative for New Mexico from 1991 - 1993, Paula was administrator for all nationally sanctioned bicycle racing in the state. During her bicycle racing career, Paula won numerous races in New Mexico and Arizona. She won the New Mexico Road Series championship, based on a series of races around the state, in her division 6 times, most recently in 2005. She placed in the top 5 in individual competition at Masters National Cycling Championships, and won a National Championship in the Women's Tandem Time Trial event with Carolyn Donnelly in 1997. Paula and Carolyn still hold the Women's national time trial record they set in 1995. As with most people, Paula rose in spirit above adversity to excel at several pursuits besides word-play and cycling during her rich life, including horse-showing, classical flute, and programming. She also traveled widely with her loving husband, from Prague and St. Petersburg, to Pie Town chasing the Leonids. They recently took up sailing and just completed their second "double-handed" sailing trip to Santa Catalina Island. She was loved and respected by many, many friends and family (and her pets) and will be deeply missed. Donations commemorating Paula may be made to: BIKEABQ; Habitat for Humanity; or an animal protection organization of your choice. An outdoor Memorial Service will be held at the Rio Grande Nature Center, Friday, July 21, 2006, 9:30 a.m.

Robert T. Marchini - 4/4/43-1/21/83
"My oldest brother, Robert Thomas Marchini, was born April 4, 1943, in Passaic General Hospital [NJ] to Robert and Lydia Marchini. He received his BS in biology from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, NJ, and did some additional study at University of Florida in marine biology before transferring to UNM where he received his masters in physics while working towards the doctorate. He died January 21, 1983, near Los Alamos.  He was survived by his parents (Lydia has since died - 1997) and brothers: Fred of Ridgewood, NJ;  Ken Italo of Montclair, NJ; and Andrew of NYC."  -Ken Italo Marchini <IKMarchini@aol.com> 11/21/02

1990s [ back to top ]

Michael Ledlow

To the family and friends of Michael Ledlow:

What a shock to receive the announcement from the UNM PandA alumni exploder of 
Michael's untimely death.  Michael and I overlapped for a short time while I was
finishing my Ph.D. with Jack Burns at UNM.  He had started out with Jack as 
well, but I think it was when Jack left UNM for Las Cruces that Michael started 
working more closely with Fraser Owen.

My overlap with Mike "Redrow" was long enough to have gained a wonderful rapport
with an incredibly gentle man.  I shall always remember him for his easy smile, 
his gentle demeanour, and his quiet brilliance.  He shared an office with 
myself, my wife to be (Jodi Asbell, who also sends her condolences), and with a 
mutual friend, Jun-Hui Zhao, whose pronounciation of Michael's last name gave 
Michael his office nickname.

My deepest condolences go out to his young family, his colleagues, his friends,
his parents, and of course his wife.  It breaks my heart to think his children 
have had their father ripped away from them at such a young age, and the only 
compensation I can think of is that Michael was such a principled and 
compassionate man, that he has likely imparted upon his children more of himself
in his short time with them than many parents are able to do in a full lifetime.

God speed, Michael.

David Clarke (UNM class of 1988)
Halifax

Christopher

2000s [ back to top ]