William H. Holt

William H. (Bill) Holt, Navy civilian shock wave physicist, passed away on October 19, 2015, in Fredericksburg, VA at the age 76.

Bill was born on August 5, 1939, in San Antonio, TX. He received a B.S. degree in Physics cum laude from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, TX in 1960. Bill received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from the University of Texas at Austin in 1962 and 1967, respectively. The theses were completed under Professor Walter E. Millet and were in the area of angular correlation of positron annihilation radiation in nickel-zinc ferrites and ammonia. From 1967 to 1969, he was a Post-doctoral Research Fellow and Lecturer at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, under Physics Professor Benjamin G. Hogg. Bill performed research on positron interactions in solids and liquids, and worked on improvements to a large high-resolution mass spectrometer for precision measurements of nuclear masses. While in Canada, Bill published papers with friend and fellow post-doc Shu Yuen Chuang, and Professor Hogg.

In 1969, Bill joined a research group of new physics PhDs at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, VA. There he started and equipped a laboratory using positron annihilation techniques for nondestructive testing of mechanical fatigue in metals, and moisture effects in polymers and other non-metals. He collaborated for many years in this area with Jag J. Singh of NASA/Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. Bill has joint publications with Jag and other coworkers in the above research area, and is the coauthor of a patent for mechanical fatigue detection using positron probes.

In addition to remaining active in positron spectroscopy, Bill began working in 1970 with Dahlgren colleague Willis Mock, Jr. in the area of shock wave physics in solids. They designed and built a gas gun facility for studying the impact properties of materials under shock loading.

Bill is the coauthor of over 20 patents, patent applications, and Navy invention disclosures, and over 60 publications and reports in the areas of shock wave propagation in solids, fracture and fragmentation of materials, shock-induced chemistry of polymers, shock depoling of ferroelectrics, and new experimental techniques for gas gun research.

Bill received the Dahlgren Division’s Science and Engineering Excellence Award in 1994. In 2001, he was awarded the John A. Dahlgren Award, the highest award offered by the Dahlgren Division, for his scientific achievements in shock wave physics. He received the Dahlgren Division’s Independent Research Excellence Award in 2004. Bill was the recipient of the Navy’s Distinguished Achievement in Science Award in 2005, the Navy’s highest scientific award, for his co-discovery of reactive materials.

He served as a session chairperson for many meetings of the APS Topical Group on the Shock Compression of Condensed Matter. He served on the Technical Program Committee for the 11th APS Topical Conference on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter, Snowbird, Utah, 1999. He also served as the NSWC Dahlgren Division’s representative to the Aeroballistics Range Association. He is biographically listed in Marquis Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who in the World. Bill was a member of the American Physical Society, the Canadian Association of Physicists, Sigma Xi, Sigma Pi Sigma, and the Materials Research Society.

He retired from Dahlgren in 2006, and was a senior scientist at Energy Technology Center in La Plata, MD from 2008 to 2011 before retiring completely.

Bill was very active in church and community affairs. He and wife Margaret joined a local Methodist church in 1970 shortly after moving to Fredericksburg, VA. He served as a local Lay Leader, and represented his church at the Ashland District and Virginia Conference. In addition, he was a committee member of the Virginia Interfaith Committee on Mental Illness Ministries.

He is survived by his wife Margaret of 52 years, two sons, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren. He was a devoted and loving person to his family and is missed by his many friends and colleagues.