[Neutron] Jim Jorgensen

Ray Osborn rosborn at anl.gov
Fri Sep 8 14:10:54 CDT 2006


Dear colleagues,
It is with great sadness that we report that Jim Jorgensen passed away
yesterday, Thursday, September 7, after a long battle with cancer.  He died
peacefully at home in his sleep.  He was a much loved and respected
colleague and friend, and we will miss his wisdom and guidance, his
enthusiasm for science and his lively sense of humor.  We offer our deepest
condolences to his wife, Ramona, and family.

It is impossible to encapsulate a career as long and as varied as Jim's in a
short communication.  Jim has had an enormous impact on neutron scattering
science both within the United States and throughout the world.  He was a
pioneer in the use of time-of-flight neutron powder diffraction, designing
the first instruments at the prototype pulsed neutron sources built in the
seventies at Argonne, and then building the first dedicated diffractometers
at the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source.  He appreciated the power of the
time-of-flight technique in enabling diffraction at high pressure and in
extreme sample environment, and performed the earliest measurements on
magnetic materials.  He is perhaps most famous for the first solution of the
crystalline structure of the high temperature superconductor, YBa2Cu3O7,
becoming one of the 100 most cited physicists for this and related work.
However, his main interest was not in solving crystal structures but in
understanding the underlying physics that they revealed.  His systematic
studies of the key structural contributions to high temperature
superconductivity were followed by equally penetrating investigations into
the physics of CMR manganites and more recently discovered superconductors,
such as MgB2 and the sodium cobaltates.  This combination of experimental
skill and physical insight gained him tremendous admiration in the condensed
matter physics community, illustrated by the award of the prestigious
Bertram E. Warren Prize by the American Crystallographic Association in
1991.

Visitation will be Sunday, September 10th, from 3:00 ­ 9:00 PM at:
Hallowell & James Funeral Home
301 75th Street
Downers Grove, IL
 
The funeral will be Monday at 11 AM in Naperville at:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
1320 Ridgeland Avenue
Naperville, IL
 
The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his
name to the American Cancer Society.

-- 
Dr Ray Osborn                Tel: +1 (630) 252-9011
Materials Science Division   Fax: +1 (630) 252-7777
Argonne National Laboratory  E-mail: ROsborn at anl.gov
Argonne, IL 60439-4845







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