Robert Burger ’52 ScM, ’55 PhD

Robert Burger ’52 ScM, ’55 PhD, of Cary, N.C.; Nov. 29. He joined the U.S. Navy at 16 years of age during World War II. After the war he graduated from William & Mary College and Brown. As a physicist, he was a pioneer in the emerging field of solid state electronics and worked in the early years of NASA’s Apollo program. He was recruited to North Carolina by the Research Triangle Institute in 1962 and later cofounded the Semiconductor Research Corporation, which was presented the National Medal of Technology by President George W. Bush in 2005. He is survived by his wife, Marian; two children and their spouses; six grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and four siblings.