John Richard Reitz

John Richard Reitz, a versatile and productive member of the physics community, died on June 29, 2014, at age 91, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

John was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and like his father, attended Case School of Applied Science. He graduated in 1943 with a major in physics. His first employment was at the Harvard Underwater Sound Laboratory where he designed and tested underwater acoustic equipment with other young physicists recruited to support the war effort.

After the war, John attended the University of Chicago where he received his MS (1947) and PhD (1949) degrees in physics. His doctoral dissertation, which dealt with the effects of screening on beta decay and internal conversion, was completed under Edward Teller.

In 1949 John joined the staff at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. Much of what he worked on was probably classified, but it is clear that his interest in solid-state physics was stimulated there. In 1952 he left Los Alamos to become a scientific liaison officer in London for the Office of Naval Research. This assignment provided a great opportunity to become acquainted with the European research community and to continue his physics research.

In 1954 John returned to the U.S. and joined the faculty of his alma mater in Cleveland, Case Institute of Technology. In addition to teaching and research supervision, John did a great deal of independent theoretical research from basic nuclear and solid-state physics to very practical problems in thermodynamics and hydrodynamics.

While at Case, he also co-authored a textbook on electricity and magnetism with his colleague and friend, Frederick J. Milford. The textbook was very successful and remained the standard on the subject for the next 50 years.

In 1964 John joined the Ford Motor Company as manager of the Physics Department in the Ford Scientific Laboratory in City. The laboratory studied fundamental issues but also focused on applied issues such as electronic engine control, air-fuel ratios, and magnetic levitation for high-speed ground transportation.

After his retirement from Ford in 1986, John continued fundamental research in physics and astrophysics in Ann Arbor with a colleague, Frederick J. Mayer. Mayer and Reitz have published several papers exploring and explaining paradoxes involving the heat generated in the earth and dark matter. The most recent of these papers was accepted for publication just days before John died.

John was preceded in death by his wife Patricia and is survived by his brother Robert and four sons and their families.

Frederick J. Milford
Frederick J. Mayer