Obituary of Wendell Gene Holladay

Wendell Gene Holladay died December 9, 2004 in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 79. He is survived by his wife, Virginia Mershon Holladay; two sons, Frank Warren Holladay of Arcata, California, and Mark Wendell Holladay of San Diego; two daughters, Jane Mershon Holladay of Nashville and Joyce Holladay Doyle of Nashville; two sisters, Josie Maydene Asbury of Brentwood, Tennessee and Sue Helen Hale of Clinton, Tennessee and seven grandchildren.

Wendell was born in Huntingdon, Tennessee on August 23, 1925. In 1943 he entered the Navy at the age of 18 and was assigned to teach the intricacies of radar at Treasure Island, San Francisco. He was in the inactive reserves from 1946-50 and was discharged with the rank of Ensign. After the war, he entered Vanderbilt University. He graduated from Vanderbilt, magna cum laude with a B.A. in physics in 1949 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received an M.A. in physics in 1950. In 1950-51 he was appointed Alumni Research Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a National Science Foundation fellow 1952-54, at which time he received the Ph.D. degree in particle physics. In 1954 Wendell returned to Vanderbilt as assistant professor of physics. He was promoted to associate professor in 1957 and full professor in 1962. He became Chairman of the Department of Physics and Astronomy in 1966, Dean of the College of Arts and Science in 1970 and Provost in 1978. In 1977-78 he received a National Science Foundation Faculty Professional Development Award and spent the year at Harvard and Boston Universities. He returned to teaching in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in 1983 and retired in 1993. After retiring he continued to be active in physics through regular participation in seminars and through research in the foundations of quantum mechanics.

Wendell was a fellow of the American Physical Society and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was a member of the Southeastern Section of the American Physics Society which he served as vice chair and chair in 1966 and 1967, American Association of University Professors, American Association of Physics Teachers and the Tennessee Academy of Science.

Wendell considered himself foremost a teacher. He taught much of the physics catalogue: the introductory course for non-scientist; freshman seminar, honors seminar for college scholars, undergraduate physics major courses and graduate physics courses. His teaching spanned the range of introductory courses for non-majors to the mathematical methodology of particle physics. Together with Otto Oldenberg, he coauthored an undergraduate textbook on modern physics which went through four editions and was used nationally and internationally. The volume was translated into Portuguese and Spanish. He directed the honor’s thesis of four undergraduates, the master’s thesis of three graduate students and the Ph.D. thesis research of eleven graduate students, a number of whom are full professors at research-oriented universities. He served on the Ph.D. committee of an additional 46 students including several in chemistry, mathematics and philosophy. In his early years, he worked on the reactions and decays of fundamental particles. He authored and coauthored 37 research articles in the field of fundamental particles. He also edited and published “To Quarks and Quasars: A History of Physics and Astronomy at Vanderbilt University,” written by Robert T. Lagemann. He always had a strong interest in the history of science and in the social implications of science, and was instrumental in defining the role of a science department in a liberal arts college.

Few people have spanned so long and illustrious a time at Vanderbilt from his undergraduate days beginning in 1946 until his death in 2004, and fewer still have exemplified his passion for and dedication to Vanderbilt and the pursuit of knowledge. Wendell was an endearing friend, stimulating colleague, and mentor to scores of students and faculty.