John E. Rowe ’71 PhD

John E. Rowe ’71 PhD, of Cary, N.C.; Dec. 8. Prior to matriculating at Brown, he taught at Clark Atlanta College and then worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. After graduating, he began working at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey and became department head in 1980. In 1983 he joined the physics department at the University of Florida, coleading a newly formed program in microelectronics and material physics. After two years he returned to Bell Labs, where he worked until 1996. He then accepted a position at the Army Research Office (ARO) in North Carolina and became an adjunct professor of physics at NC State. In 2004 he left ARO and became founding deputy director of the Institute for Advanced Materials at UNC-Chapel Hill. After three and a half years at UNC he returned to the physics department at NC State as a research professor. He was the recipient of several awards and distinctions, including being selected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Vacuum Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2011 he received the Albert Nerken Award from the American Vacuum Society for his research on synchrotrons, a type of circular particle accelerator. He was an active member of Apex United Methodist Church and enjoyed fishing, watching football, and Jeopardy!. He is survived by his wife, Susie; three children; and five grandchildren.