John Michael Robson, 1920-2000
John Michael Robson, distinguish-ed scholar, astute administrator and outstanding teacher, died on April 29, 2000, in Peterborough, Ontario, after a courageous battle with cancer. He was in his eighty-first year.
John Robson was born in London, England, on March 26, 1920. After completing his early schooling in Clifton College boarding school in Bristol, in 1939 he entered Cambridge University, with a scholarship, and graduated in 1942 with an Honours B.A. degree in Natural Sciences. Like many of his contemporaries, he answered the call of duty upon his graduation by joining the war time radar research effort and, later (1946), earned an M.A. degree from his alma mater based on his war time radar work. He came to Canada in 1945 as a member of the British delegation to work on the Canada-U.K. joint atomic energy project, specializing in nuclear reactor safety design. This turned out to be a stepping stone to a distinguished career in nuclear physics research in Canada. His flair for research was quickly recognized and he was invited to join Atomic Energy of Canada as a research officer in 1950 to work at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories.
Starting around 1948, and thereafter for the next twelve years, John Robson carried out, almost single-handedly, a series of very important experiments to investigate the decay proper-ties of the free neutron. In this work he clearly demonstrated the ingenuity of his experimental skill and the carefulness of his measurements. The results of these experiments have had profound implications on our understanding of the physical world in which we live; they helped to elucidate the basic characteristics of one of the fundamental forces of nature, the weak force that has played an important role in the evolution of our universe. The brilliance of his work earned him considerable international recognition. He was elected fellow of the American Physical Society in 1952 and four years later, at the age of 36, he was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada. In 1963, his alma mater, Cambridge University, invited him to submit his research papers in fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Science.
In 1960, he was appointed to chair the Physics Department at the University of Ottawa. It was at Ottawa that he began to take a keen interest in national science affairs. He acquired a reputation as an astute administrator. His wise counsel was widely sought after by the scientific community and govern-ment agencies. He participated actively in the formulation of national science policies. While at Ottawa, he and his students conducted a series of experiments to study the structure of nuclear systems using the fast neutrons from the dynamitron accelerator. In 1968, we were fortunate to be able to lure him to McGill to chair our Physics Department. His arrival at McGill coincided with the passage of the crest of student enrolment wave through the department. Our capacity was stretched to the limit and we needed his administrative skill and resourcefulness to take us through that difficult period. He brought a diverse, highly competitive and scattered depart-ment together under trying circumstances. He completed his eight-year tenure as Chairman in 1976, a few months prior to our moving into the new Rutherford Physics Building, whose realization owed much to his effort. Throughout his years at McGill, until his retirement in 1985, he maintained a research interest in the elusive neutron. He was a world expert on the transportation of the very slowly moving neutrons, which are called ultra-cold neutrons. He could guide them efficiently through a long distance or put them in confinement.
Upon his retirement, he was invited to The Sultan Quaboos University in Oman to establish a new physics department. During the period between 1986 and 1990, with a one-year interruption because of the Gulf war, he spent almost three years there before he retired back to Canada and settled down in Lakefield, Ontario, near Peterborough. His last scientific paper, on the physics of flycasting, was written after his retirement, as a result of observations on his many fishing trips. It was published in the American Journal of Physics in 1990.
In spite of his many commitments during his academic career, John Robson took his teaching responsibilities very seriously. He was a highly respected and totally dedicated teacher. The students became his first love; he was very patient and generous with them. He will be affectionately remembered by generations of physics students for the time and effort which he devoted so freely to them.
Amongst the important honours and awards he received in addition to those already mentioned above, he was President of the Canadian Association of Physicists (1966-67), Secretary of the Royal Society of Canada (1965-68), Member of the National Research Council (1967-73), Member of the Board of Governors of University of Ottawa (1965-68) and of Bishop's University (1965-68), and recipient of the Medal for Achievement in Physics of the Canadian Association of Physicists (1978). He was Macdonald professor of Physics at McGill from 1983 to1985, when he became Professor Emeritus of Physics. John Robson will be fondly remembered by his many friends, colleagues and students. He is survived by his wife, Nora Summerhays, whom he married in 1950, by his children, Michael, Lisa and Peter, and five grandchildren, and by his brother, Michael Robson, of Wales.
S. K. Tommy Mark, McGill University