Ward Plummer

Condensed matter physicist Ward Plummer died on 23 July 2020 at his home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. An inspiring and colorful scientist, Plummer had a brilliant career in surface science and pioneered the use of various surface spectroscopies, including field emission and resonant tunneling spectroscopy, angle-resolved photoemission, Fourier-transform scanning tunneling microscopy, and high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy. His fundamental studies of collective excitations at metal surfaces and experimental discovery of the multipole surface plasmon in the late 1980s laid a solid foundation for the thriving field of nanoplasmonics. His work on surface charge density waves and surface phases of oxides also inspired many related studies on the effects of broken symmetry and reduced dimensionality.

Born in Astoria, Oregon, Plummer graduated with a BA in physics and mathematics from Lewis and Clark College in 1962 and completed his PhD in physics at Cornell University in 1967, under the guidance of Thor Rhodin. In those days, surface science was still in its infancy, and Plummer became its pioneer. He completed a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) and remained there as a staff scientist until 1973. Together with Russell Young and Bill Gadzuk, Plummer developed single-electron spectroscopy, which offered them the first-ever glimpse of the electronic energy levels of atoms at a surface. While his work flourished, years later he would tell The Chronicle, Lewis and Clark’s magazine, that he was “too independent and mentally playful for promotion,” so he left when the bureau sent him to management school.

In 1973 Plummer accepted a position as a faculty member in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania, where he spent the next 19 years—rising to the rank of professor and serving as director of the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter. At Penn, he was among the first to explore the use of synchrotron radiation for surface science studies, first at Tantalus in Wisconsin and later at the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory. There, he used photoelectron spectroscopy to study the electronic structure of metal surfaces and prototypical molecular chemisorption systems.

Plummer moved in 1992 to Tennessee, where he joined the University of Tennessee Physics Department and Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Solid-State Division as a UT/ORNL Distinguished Scientist. During this time, Plummer continued to teach, mentor young scientists, and drive research into new directions. Remarkably, he changed his research focus from studying “simple” model systems to complex materials. He was instrumental in establishing the Center for Nanophase Material sciences at ORNL, and he was the founding father of the UT/ORNL Joint Institute for Advanced Materials, where he served as the institute’s director.

In 2009 Plummer moved to Louisiana State University, where in addition to teaching and research, he served as a special assistant to the vice chancellor for research and director of the Institute for Advanced Materials. Known for his tenacious pursuit of free and open scientific ideas, Plummer helped build collaborative research and education programs between US and international partners. In 2009 this led to the creation of a dual degree program between LSU and the Institute of Physics in Beijing, as well as collaborative efforts to build state-of-the-art instrumentation for surface property measurements. He served as the first adviser to the International Center for Quantum Structures, founded in 2000. His leadership was recognized in 2016 with the Chinese Academy of Science Award for International Scientific Cooperation and in 2017 with the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award of the People’s Republic of China. In years prior, he received the Humboldt Research Award for senior scientists (1987) and the Davisson–Germer Prize of the American Physical Society (1983), and he was elected to membership of the National Academy of Sciences (2006) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2014).

After more than 50 years as an educator and researcher and all of the accomplishments and awards, Plummer always cited his work with students as his greatest professional pride. He delighted in watching their growth as he mentored their progression into becoming independent scientists and fostered the egalitarian conviction that a good idea can come from anyone, no matter their stature or rank. Ward Plummer leaves behind many friends and colleagues who will miss his energy and passion for mentoring young people and his uncompromising approach to conducting good science.