Albert Joseph Howard Jr

Albert Joseph Howard Jr, Jarvis Professor of Physics at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, died at his home in New Haven, Connecticut, on 7 June 2003 as a result of a massive heart attack.

Born on 22 February 1937 in New Haven, Al resided in the New Haven area all his life. He received his BS in physics in 1958 and his PhD in physics in 1963, both from Yale University. His thesis research, under the guidance of W. W. Watson and one of us (Bromley), involved the thermal-column separation of noble-gas isotopes. These he then used in a series of studies of the structure of light nuclei, in experiments carried out at the 3-MV Van de Graaff accelerator at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Thus began a long and productive career in experimental nuclear physics.

In 1962, even before he had completed his doctorate, Al was appointed assistant professor of physics at Trinity. He set up a small laboratory that provided generations of students with substantial early introductions to the art of experimental nuclear physics, particularly gamma and alpha spectroscopy. Concurrently, Al maintained an active and productive research collaboration with one of us (Parker) at the Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory at Yale and studied nuclear reactions essential to the understanding of stellar nucleosynthesis. Over the years, he also ran experiments with groups at Brookhaven and at Princeton University, sometimes with the participation of Trinity undergraduates.

Al served three terms (1974–78, 1987–90, and 1996–2000, and for the academic year 2001–02) as chairman of Trinity’s physics department, served on a full complement of college committees, and carried a full—and often heavy—teaching load. Yet his continual and varied research programs resulted in well over 50 published papers. Trinity recognized Al’s distinguished scholarship by naming him Dana Research Professor for 1985–87.

Together with Wayne Strange, the physics laboratory coordinator at Trinity, Al spent much of his last decade refining techniques for accurate determination of environmental radon levels and of radon emanation rates from solids.

We remember Al as an avid golfer, a friend of animals, and a teacher and friend always ready to help colleagues and students. He combined a keen sense of humor with uncompromising dedication to the welfare of his department. He is sorely missed both at Trinity and at Yale.