Nuclear physicist dies at age 88

Wolfgang Panofsky '38, who left a legacy of influential research in electron accelerator design, high-energy particle physics and nuclear arms control, died of a heart attack Sept. 24 in Mountain View, Calif. He was 88.

Born in Berlin in 1919, Panofsky was the son of Erwin Panofsky, an art history professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. After arriving in the United States in 1934, Panofsky graduated from Princeton in 1938 with an A.B. in physics. He earned his doctorate in physics from Caltech in 1942. The same year, he became a naturalized citizen.

During World War II, Panofsky worked as a consultant to the Manhattan Project and helped build the first atomic bomb. In 1945, he worked as a staff physicist at the Radiation Laboratory at UC-Berkeley, where he became a physics professor in 1948. At Berkeley, Panofsky and physicist Jack Steinberger became the first scientists to isolate the neutral pi meson, a subatomic particle that is believed to contribute to the strong force binding atomic nuclei.

"He was most passionate about good science and about working to try to reduce nuclear dangers through sensible negotiations and limitations on nuclear weapons," said Sidney Drell '46, a former deputy director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) and "close friend" of Panofsky.

Panofsky arrived at Stanford in 1951 as a physics professor, supervising the university's High Energy Physics Laboratory. After improving an existing electron accelerator, he and Drell assumed leadership of a new project to build a two-mile linear electron accelerator.

Drell explained how the two came to head the newly formed organization. "We talked physics together, and when the SLAC was authorized we both resigned our positions as physics professors, and a new faculty was created," he said. "We decided the best way to build a machine, to build a great laboratory, was to make that move."

Panofsky related his physics research to U.S. nuclear arms control policies, emerging in Washington as an advocate for an alliance with the Soviet Union and China to avoid nuclear war.

In the 1950s, Panofsky began to advise the State Department about ways to track radioactive fallout using tests of nuclear weapons in the upper atmosphere over the Soviet Union or other nations. A member of the President's Science Advisory Committee from 1961 to 1964, Panofsky also advised the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Energy on their nuclear weapons and arms control programs. His research played an important part in the formation of a 1963 treaty prohibiting atmospheric testing in the United States, China and the Soviet Union.

Panofsky also appeared before a Senate foreign relations subcommittee in 1969 to challenge the approval of the Safeguard Program, an anti-ballistic missile system designed to protect U.S. missile sites from counterforce attacks and thus allow for unrestrained massive retaliation. In 1983, he opposed then-President Ronald Reagan's proposal for a "Star Wars" antimissile program, instead supporting an international alliance with Soviet and Chinese scientists to avoid nuclear war.

"He had a great interest in many things and a very positive spirit — [he was a] very activist person," Drell said. "If he thought that there was a problem that was important, he'd work hard on it."

Panofsky received numerous awards and honors during his life, including the National Medal of Science in 1969 and the U.S. Department of Energy's Enrico Fermi Award in 1979. In 1974, he served as president of the American Physical Society.

"He was one of the most incredibly intelligent people I have met in my life," said Nick Panofsky, one of his grandsons.

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"He's the most grounded person I've ever met," Nick added. "One time I asked him how to derive pi, and he gave me four different ways off the top of his head. One of the greatest skills was that he could explain any topic to any person of any educational level in a manner that he could actually understand."

Outside of his work, Panofsky enjoyed music and traveling. Burton Richter, who worked as a professor at the SLAC with Panofsky and took over as director after Panofsky retired, recalled how Panofsky and his wife "used to go off cruising in Baja California in their four-wheel drive."

Panofsky's family members recalled that, despite Panofsky's many obligations, he always made time for his children. Steven, one of Panofsky's sons, said traveling with his father was what he most enjoyed. "Going to the mountains, going to the Sierra, going to the Alps, just going on camping trips, places, having adventures with him — those were the best memories."

Panofsky also taught his children kindness and "tolerance of other people's differences," Steven added.

"He was a person of great integrity and principle," Drell said.

Panofsky is survived by his wife, Adele; his five children, Steven, Edward, Richard, Margaret and Carol; his nine grandchildren; and his two great-grandchildren.

On Friday, Sept. 28, an informal memorial was held at the SLAC for Panofsky's family and coworkers. Drell said that "a formal celebration of his achievements and his life" will take place within the next few months.