Obituary of Nelson Fuson

Nelson Fuson died February 5, 2006 at Kendal-at-Longwood, Kennett Square, PA, a Quaker retirement center. He is survived by his wife Marian Darnell Fuson; their older son, Allan, his wife, Sue and their daughter, Jessica of Westchester, OH; their younger son Dan, his wife, Nancy, and their two sons, Matthew and Michael of Brentwood, TN; a younger brother William of Richmond, IN.

Nelson was born in Guang-Zhou (Canton) China on September 4, 1913 to Chester and Phebe Fuson who were American Presbyterian missionaries. He spent most of his first 15 years in China and thus learned to speak both English and Chinese as a child. At ages 3 and 9, Nelson’s family returned to Emporia, Kansas. However, he attended grade school in Canton and the first two years of high school in Shanghai before returning, at age 15, to Emporia to complete high school, and to graduate from the College of Emporia in 1934.

Nelson earned an M.A. in physics and astronomy at Kansas University in 1935 and the Ph.D. in physics from the University of Michigan in 1938 under Harrison Mcallister Randall. His dissertation was on the far infrared spectrum of heavy water (D2O) vapor. Nelson then spent 3 years as an instructor in physics at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. However, in 1941 when the United States became involved in World War II, Nelson, who was a pacifist because of his experiences in China, was drafted as a conscientious objector (CO) to military service. For the next 4.5 years, he worked as a CO in Civilian Public Service (CPS) at various locations within the United States. His final year in CPS was completed at the University of Michigan carrying out infrared research on the structure of penicillin.

Nelson and Marian Darnell were married on June 23, 1945 at the Moorestown, NJ, Friends Meeting. In 1946, after being released from CPS, they moved to Baltimore, from Ann Arbor, MI, where Nelson did research on infrared detectors at Johns Hopkins University for 2.5 years. He then taught at Howard University in Washington, DC, for the 1948-49 academic year.

In 1949, Nelson moved to Fisk University, in Nashville, TN, becoming Chairman of the Physics Department and Director of the Infrared Spectroscopy Research Laboratory. He directed the Fisk summer institutes for over 28 years. This unique workshop brought together scientists from all over the US and a number of foreign countries to study and learn about infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography. The instructors for the courses offered in the workshops were selected from leading experts on the relevant topics in industry, government laboratories, and universities. In 1964, a Latin American Fisk Infrared Institute was held in San Paulo, Brazil.

Nelson was an active member of the American Chemical Society and the American Physical Society. He was also an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Throughout his scientific career, he applied the methods of infrared spectroscopy to a broad range of problems in chemical physics. These included inter-molecular interactions, carcinogenic properties of complex materials and inorganic ions in alkali halide matrices. During 1966-68, he served as president of The Coblentz Society, a nonprofit organization whose “purpose is to foster the understanding and application of vibrational spectroscopy.”

Nelson and Marian were very involved in social activities leading to racial harmony and desegregation during the 1950’s to the present time. The Fisk physics graduate students doing research in the infrared laboratory were instrumental in helping integrate the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society. Further, the Fusons were very much involved during the 1960s, along with other Fisk faculty families, in the “sit-ins,” “stand-ins,” and “freedom-rides” in the South.

Nelson Fuson served on the faculty of the Physics Department at Fisk University for more than four decades. He taught several generations of science students who then went on to obtain advanced degrees in physics, medicine, and engineering. His many students remember him with great fondness and deeply appreciate both his kindness and counsel in helping us survive the pitfalls of not only academic life, but also living during very interesting times. We will miss Nelson.