Obituary of Michael Wilkinson (1921-2013)

Michael Kennerly Wilkinson (age 92), a scientist internationally known for his pioneering neutron scattering investigations of materials and for his leadership in solid state science at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, died at his home in Oak Ridge, Tennessee on May 22, 2013.

Michael Kennerly Wilkinson

The son of Ridley and Lucille Wilkinson, Mike was born in Palatka, Florida, on February 9, 1921. He attended college at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, where he received a B.S. degree in physics in 1942. He was president of his senior class and was the first honor graduate (valedictorian) of that class. After graduation from The Citadel, Wilkinson became an officer in the U. S. Army. Because of his science background, he was sent to special training courses in radar at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After receiving this training, he spent most of war in the Army as Radar Officer and Intelligence Officer for the Harbor Defenses of Los Angeles. On June 18, 1944, he married Virginia Sleap, who preceded him in death.

After the War, Wilkinson attended graduate school at MIT, where he was also employed as a Research Assistant at the Research Laboratory of Electronics. He obtained a Ph.D. from MIT in 1950, performing his thesis research under Professor Wayne Nottingham on crystallographic variations in field emissions from tungsten. He also performed research in x-ray scattering under Professor Bertram Warren.

Wilkinson became a member of the research staff of the Physics Division at ORNL in 1950, joining the program in neutron scattering that had been initiated a few years earlier by Ernest Wollan and Clifford Shull. Shull later received the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics for the pioneering neutron scattering research that he performed at ORNL.

Initially, Mike’s research was focused on determining the magnetic structure and related properties of transition metals and alloys using neutron diffraction techniques. Of particular note was his work with Clifford Shull on ferromagnetic iron near the Curie temperature where results from small-angle and magnetic critical scattering help resolve issues from competing theories of the time. Research in collaboration with Wally Koehler and Ernie Wollan on determining the magnetic structures of rare-earth perovskites soon followed. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, magnetic structures of rare-earth elements such as Ho, Tm, and Er were also investigated.

In 1962 Mike moved to ORNL’s Solid State Division to initiate and lead the first inelastic neutron scattering program in the U.S. to investigate the dynamical properties of atoms in solids. As part of this effort, Mike and Harold Smith built the first triple-axis spectrometer in the U.S. at the Oak Ridge Reactor (ORR), based on an instrument developed at the Chalk River Laboratory in Canada by Bertram Brockhouse. This instrument made possible inelastic scattering experiments that could probe in great detail the dynamics of materials. He published numerous studies of the lattice dynamics and magnetic excitations of a vast array of solids. He also assumed responsibility for the development of new neutron scattering facilities at the High Flux Isotope Reactor then under construction at ORNL. These facilities have been broadly used by researchers from around the world.

During this period, Mike also served as a Visiting Professor of Physics at Georgia Institute of Technology, where he helped develop the Frank H. Neely Nuclear Research Center and held the Neely Chair for Nuclear Science.

Wilkinson was appointed Associate Director of the Solid State Division in 1964 and Director in 1972, a position he held until 1986. Under his guidance, the Solid State Division became well known nationally and internationally for studying the physical properties of materials.

Wilkinson was also very active in the promotion of solid state science and in the development of science policy. He served on many national committees including the Solid State Sciences Committee of the National Research Council, the Evaluation Panel for Materials Sciences of the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Science and Technology), the Executive Committee of the Division of Condensed Matter Sciences of the American Physical Society, the Executive Committee of the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society, the Advisory Committee for Materials Research of the National Science Foundation, and the Oasis Energy Sciences Committee of the Department of Energy.

During the last part of his career, Wilkinson became very involved in the development of a new high intensity neutron source for the United States. His efforts helped lay the foundation for the Spallation Neutron Source at ORNL. For his activities on behalf of DOE, he was awarded the DOE Research Associate Award, one of the highest awards given by DOE to someone who is not a member of that organization. He retired from ORNL in 1991.