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Death Notice Jack W. Culvahouse Submitted by Richard C. Sapp Published on 17 November 2006 Jack W. Culvahouse, a well-respected experimentalist and theorist in the field of electron paramagnetic resonance (epr) of dilute magnetic ions in solids, died of complications following surgery on 7 June, 2006 in Lawrence, Kansas. He was a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and a member of Sigma Xi and of Tau Beta Pi. Jack was born on 15 September, 1929 in Mountain Park, Oklahoma and grew up on his parents' farm near there. After public education in a rural consolidated school district, he attended the University of Oklahoma, receiving a B.S. in Engineering Physics in 1951 with election to Phi Beta Kappa. He worked at the Hanford Laboratory in Richland, Washington until 1953, when he entered graduate school at Harvard University on an NSF pre-doctoral fellowship, earning his Ph.D. in 1958 with a dissertation on dynamic orientation of Arsenic-76 nuclei in silicon in association with F.M. Pipkin and under direction of R. V. Pound. After a summer of research at Hycon Eastern in Boston and a year of teaching at Oklahoma, he moved to the University of Kansas where he spent the rest of his professional career, retiring in 1994. His analysis of epr data was remarkable for an era (mostly pre-1970) when computer usage was relatively rare. Nothing escaped his attention; for example, he noticed slightly increased line-broadening indicative of small pockets of water in a "pure" aqueous-grown crystal. He was among the first to recognize that an effective spin 1/2 Hamiltonian may be adequate, even for higher true spin values. The Hamiltonian's parameters (interaction constants) deduced from dilute-ion spectra usually agreed well with those required to describe bulk magnetic properties. But Jack, with a deep knowledge of group theory and chemical bonding, went further by relating the effective interactions to location and symmetry of the sites and orbitals involved. Particularly striking were detailed studies of various ions and sites in double nitrate crystals which concluded that the exchange interaction comes mostly from sigma bonding. He made the effective spin Hamiltonian parameters time-dependent owing to dynamics of the important bondings, more realistic than phenomenological theories of spin-lattice relaxation based on simple phonon distributions. Consequently he showed accounting for motion of surrounding water molecules was essential to quantitative treatment of relaxation rates in double nitrates. Jack directed 17 students to PhDs and five to masters degrees, while authoring or co-authoring 31 publications in physics journals. He was a vital presence in the department, participating in discussions with graduate students and faculty in other research areas as well, generously sharing his wide knowledge. Those who interacted with him were taken with his ability to listen carefully and respond with penetrating questions, often leading to new insights. He also taught a wide variety of physics courses ranging from introductory to graduate levels. In the 1970s he became involved in developing computer-assisted experimentation in research, undergraduate labs, and a course on using computers in physics, with studies such as chaotic motion of a driven pendulum controlled and analyzed by computer. A capstone achievement during this era was the complete implementation of a computer-controlled magnetic resonance spectrometer system capable of on-line interactive data analysis. He took time off from Kansas for a Guggenheim fellowship at Oxford, 1968-69, and an Associated Western Universities Faculty Research participation at Sandia National Laboratories in 1987. At Sandia, with a deep grasp of computing, he quickly became expert in molecular dynamics simulations applied to hydrogen diffusion in metals. Among other things, his code later added another nail to the coffin of cold fusion. After retirement Jack became fascinated with family genealogy. He had special satisfaction from developing a web site devoted to the history of the rural consolidated school district in which he began his education in southwest Oklahoma. We are most fortunate to have been closely involved with Jack over periods of time which represent important phases of our respective careers. His great talent and breadth of knowledge, and his unassuming and generous personal style, made him a unique resource and colleague. We have enjoyed his friendship over many years. He will be greatly missed by those who knew him well.Richard C. Sapp
Current comments and reminiscences on Jack W. Culvahouse:The first time I worked closely with a professional physcist was as a young undergraduate physics major at Kansas University teaching introductory physics laboratories. Dr. Culvahouse was my supervisor, and the first of many mentors who led me to a career in physics. Often your earliest mentors are your most important ones. Rochester, MI |
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