Obituary of John Hardy (1935-2011)

John Richard Hardy, was born on January 9, 1935 in Hertfordshire, England to Marjorie and Cyril Hardy, formerly of Derby, England. His father worked as a telecommunications engineer for British Railways, and both grandfathers and a great-grandfather were also employed by the railways, which certainly influenced his passion for model trains.

John died at age 76 on May 5, 2011 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He received his B.S. degree in 1956 and his Ph.D. in 1959, both from Bristol University in England. After holding positions as a Research Fellow at Reading University and Senior Scientific Officer at the U.K. Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, John arrived in the U.S. as a visiting faculty member in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nebraska during 1966-67. He was promoted to the rank of Professor of Physics with tenure in 1968, and he remained with the Department until his retirement in 2003.

John was an international authority in the field of lattice dynamics because of his development of his famous Deformation Dipole Model for calculating the vibrational properties of insulators before he arrived in the U.S. He had an outstanding record of training graduate and postdoctoral students and collaborating with other scientists. His Ph.D. students have gone on to distinguished careers in theoretical condensed matter physics at other academic institutions, in industry, and at national laboratories. He is also noted for his highly effective collaboration with experimentalists, maintaining a long-term joint research program with experimentalist Frank Ullman in the study of ferroelectric materials. In 1979, John co-authored a book with Arnold Karo entitled ‘The Lattice Dynamics of Alkali Halide Crystals.’ He served as a consultant to both Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and the Naval Research Laboratory. His research was supported by both the Army Research Office and the Office of Naval Research.

John was a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the major professional organization. In 1982, he received the University of Nebraska Chapter of Sigma Xi’s Distinguished Scientist Award. John received the 1989 University of Nebraska Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Activity (ORCA) in 1989. He was cited for his pioneering work on the lattice dynamics and statics of crystalline materials, his development of the deformation dipole model, which is used widely to calculate basic properties of both pure materials and materials containing defects, his extensive work on the theory of shock propagation in solids, and identification of the possible origins of high temperature superconductivity. The ORCA award is the highest accolade the University can bestow in recognition of a faculty member’s research. Finally, to honor John for his various accomplishments, the University of Nebraska named him George Holmes Professor of Physics in 1993.

John was a kind and caring person who dedicated all his life to mentoring his students and postdoctoral fellows and working with his experimental and theoretical colleagues. Those who knew him always enjoyed his dry sense of humor which replaced his normal shyness after a few beers. John is survived by his sister Jane, who lives in the family home in England.