Marcus T. McEllistrem

Marcus T. McEllistrem, Emeritus Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Kentucky, died on 14 June 2019 in Lexington, Kentucky. The son of Marcus T. and Loretta Camille (Simard) McEllistrem, he was born on 19 April 1926, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Marcus and his wife, Eleanor, were married for 62 years and raised six children.

Following his service in the Naval Reserve in World War II, Marcus received a BA (1950) from Saint Thomas College and MS (1951) and PhD (1955) in nuclear physics from the University of Wisconsin under Hugh Richards. He was a research associate at Indiana University for two years before joining the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Kentucky in 1957. Marcus rapidly rose through the ranks to become a professor in 1965, and he remained in this position until his retirement in 1994; however, his research continued for more than 20 additional years, until just before his death. He was an invited guest scientist at many prestigious institutions and laboratories, including Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University of Notre Dame, the Beijing National Accelerator Laboratory, and Bruyères le Châtel, CEA, France. In 1971 he was recognized as a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Marcus was fully engaged in all features of academic life, and for his contributions, he received recognition in many forms. He was a University of Kentucky Research Professor (1978–79) and was elected by his peers as the Distinguished Professor of the College of Arts and Sciences (1981–82) and as the chair of the University Senate (1991–92). As a servant for the cause of science, Marcus was a program officer of NSF (1981–82). In 1992 he was selected as the Distinguished Scientist of the Kentucky Academy of Science, and he later served as president of the academy (1997). In recognition of his many contributions to the university, he was named as an A&S Distinguished Professor Emeritus in 2008 and was inducted into the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 2013.

Much of Marcus’s research was directed at understanding proton- and neutron-induced reaction dynamics in the few MeV range, a range of immense importance for applications. Throughout his career, he applied his knowledge of nuclear physics to addressing societal issues. With medical colleagues, he examined the production and utility of short-lived radionuclides for medical applications such as radiotherapy and radiopharmaceuticals. He also examined nuclear methods for the detection of explosives and narcotics in luggage and cargo containers. He explored nuclear methods for the detection of landmines, and he performed pioneering studies of neutron activation analysis with fast neutrons. In addition, his research in nuclear astrophysics provided new insights into the determination of the age of the universe.

Marcus had a leading role in proposing, designing, obtaining state funding, and constructing the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory (UKAL), and he served as director of the laboratory for its first 35 years. Soon after UKAL’s inception in 1963, Marcus and his colleagues secured funding for the laboratory from NSF, funding that has continued to this day. Through his efforts at UKAL, he became recognized as a world leader in neutron-induced reactions and scattering and their interpretation. He served as the mentor of many PhD and master’s recipients and postdoctoral scholars as they performed nuclear physics research. Marcus also encouraged many others to utilize the accelerator facility, and he gave freely of his time to assist in their research efforts.

With many colleagues at UKAL, Marcus demonstrated how inelastic neutron scattering and total neutron cross sections could be applied to enhance our understanding of the nuclear force, and how these mechanisms could be used to provide information which was unobtainable through other methods. Marcus’s nuclear structure interests were very broad, as he studied nuclear collectivity in many regions of the nuclear landscape, often complementing the experimental work with shell model calculations. He studied nuclear shape transitions and shape coexistence as well as quadrupole, octupole, and hexadecapole phonon excitations.

Marcus’s legacy goes far beyond his contributions to pure and applied science. He was a powerful force and influence in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, showing by his quiet example how to make it a more collegial and humane place in which to work and build a career. While he enjoyed great personal success in his career, Marcus took even greater satisfaction in the accomplishments of his students and colleagues. Those who worked with him will always remember his kindness and generosity. While the various forms of recognition he received document a full life, his greatest impact was the many lives he enriched.