Alan Douglas MacKellar

Alan D. MacKellar, 1936-2014

Alan Douglas MacKellar passed away on July 12, 2014, in Lexington, KY. Alan was primarily a theoretical nuclear physicist, with notable contributions to the analysis of nuclear structure and reactions. He was a Professor Emeritus, former Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Kentucky, Lexington.

Alan was born in Detroit and raised in Royal Oak, Michigan. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. in theoretical nuclear physics from Texas A & M University in 1966. Following postdoctoral work at M.I.T. and Rice, he was appointed an Assistant Professor at the University of Kentucky, Lexington in 1968, where he remained until his retirement in 1998, serving as Department Chair from 1985 until 1993. He held visiting appointments at several institutions, including the University of Bonn, the University of Washington, and Indiana University as well as Argonne, Oak Ridge, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories.

Alan’s work in nuclear physics concerned the theoretical description of nuclei and their reactions. He computed the ground-state properties of complex nuclei using Brueckner-Bethe-Goldstone and Brueckner-Hartree-Fock methods; one particular interest was in the construction of suitable local potentials for the low-energy scattering of neutrons, protons, and anti-protons from such nuclei. He also helped to pioneer methods based on classical equations of motion for the prediction of heavy-ion collisions at laboratory energies of hundreds of MeV per projectile nucleon, incorporating both finite-range interactions and Pauli Principle effects. In later years he used classical-trajectory Monte Carlo methods to compute the outcome of ion-Rydberg-atom collisions, providing expert theoretical support for the local experimental program studying these systems.

Alan also had an important impact through his pursuit of professional, progressive ideals; he was particularly committed to improving the diversity of the physics work force, in all its forms. For example, he brought the Annual Meeting of the National Society of Black Physicists to U.K. in 1998 -- it was the first joint meeting of the student and faculty organizations -- and served as its chair and as editor of its proceedings.

Upon retirement his interest in photography and in creative writing, both prose and poetry, expanded to secondary careers. His chapbook of poems, “Chasing Schrödinger’s Cat,” was

published by Finishing Line Press in 2010, and his photography exhibits included one-person shows at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington, the University of Kentucky Art Museum, and the University of Louisville Photo Archives Gallery.

Alan was a gentle, affable man, filled with wry humor, and we will miss his wit and grace.

Susan Gardner
Keith B. MacAdam