Obituary of Robert Lee Mieher

Robert Lee Mieher, known as Bob to his family and graduate students and colleagues, Professor Emeritus of Physics and former Chairman of the Purdue Department of Physics, passed away on Dec. 4, 2007 in Lafayette, Indiana.

Bob was born on October 10, 1932 in Scottsville, Illinois. After his youth spent on the family farm in southern Illinois, he entered the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 1950 and remained there to get his bachelors, masters, and in 1960, his PhD. He carried out his doctoral research under Professor Charles P. Slichter. His experimental and theoretical study of nuclear quadrupolar spin-lattice relaxation time in III-V compounds stands as an elegant example of the golden age of NMR.

After an additional year as a Research Associate, he went to the University of Stuttgart as a Visiting Scientist. There he expanded his expertise in magnetic resonance techniques. Working with Horst Seidel, he began electron-nuclear-double-resonance (ENDOR) studies of isolated defect structures in insulating crystals. While at Stuttgart, he met and married his wife Waltraud (Wally) Bökle. Upon returning to the States in 1962 he became an Assistant Professor in the Physics Department at Columbia University. There he held an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship and mentored five PhD students.

Bob joined the Purdue Physics Department as Associate Professor in the Summer of 1965. He was promoted to Full Professor in 1970. He expanded his defect structures work to include semiconductors and the measurement of both structural defects and their wave functions. During this time he mentored eight PhD students. He became a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1970. From 1977 to 1988 he served as the Head of the Department. He retired as Emeritus Professor at the end of the Fall 2002.

During his scientific career, Bob Mieher focused a variety of research investigations on point defects in alkali halides and semiconductors. Thanks to his mastery of ENDOR techniques and condensed matter theory, he and his band of enthusiastic graduate students elucidated the spatial structure of the isolated defects and the relaxation of the surrounding lattice. This research program led to significant results on the nature of color centers in alkali halides, transition elements in ionic and valence crystals, and shallow donors in silicon. In all his publications one can clearly observe the thoroughness of the experiments and the superior skills with which they were performed. His unique physical insights and original theoretical calculations have enriched the sub-field of point defects in condensed matter. For his graduate students he was an inspiring mentor. He set high standards for research and challenging goals. He showed them how to attack the inevitable problems with clear thinking and confidence.

During Bob’s leadership as Head (1977-1988), the Physics Department flourished in all branches of research and in all aspects of teaching activities. His intellectual vigor and scholarship, his broad interests, enthusiasm and dedication to teaching, contributed in no small measure to the stature of the Department. The high quality of the new faculty attracted to the growth of the Department in this period is a significant part of his legacy.

Bob’s enthusiasm for science well beyond his research interests was evident to everyone who came into contact with him. In recent years, his extensive readings included subjects as diverse as astrophysics, evolution, and developmental biology. His unique sense of humor always enlivened his conversations with his colleagues and graduate students and in his classroom.

Bob’s wife of 45 years, Wally, preceded him in death on March 16, 2007. He is survived by his three sons, Walter, David, and Michael, and three grandchildren.