Geballe to be remembered for his warmth and wisdom

Ronald Geballe

A commemoration of longtime physics professor Ronald Geballe, who died Oct. 28, will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 8 in 220 Kane Hall. Members of the University and Seattle communities are invited. A reception in the Walker-Ames Room will follow.

Geballe also is being honored today with a posthumous Pathfinder Award from Phi Beta Kappa. Pathfinder Awards recognize people and organizations that “reach beyond their own intellectual and professional boundaries to stimulate achievement in others.”

Geballe was associated with the University for over 55 years, beginning in 1943. He is remembered for his warmth, wisdom and effectiveness with students and colleagues as well as in his many leadership roles. Most of his time at the University was spent as a faculty member in the physics department. Geballe served as the department’s chair from 1957 to 1973—a period in which the department came into national prominence as a center for physics research. He later served as dean of the Graduate School.

Throughout his career Geballe was chiefly interested in teaching. He was founder and the first chairman of the Pacific Northwest Association for College Physics and served a term as president of the American Association of Physics Teachers. Geballe also was active as a member and leader in numerous other national and international scientific organizations. After his retirement, he taught physics for years in the Transition School of the UW’s Early Entrance Program for talented teenagers.

Some of his friends and colleagues from both inside and outside the University will speak at the commemoration. Visiting speakers will be Gordon Dunn, University of Colorado; Leon Fisher, California State University, Haywood; Theodore Geballe, Stanford University; Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburgh; Eugen Merzbacher, University of North Carolina, and Denys Wilkinson, University of Sussex. UW speakers will be Arnold Arons, professor emeritus, physics; Isaac Halpern, professor emeritus, physics; Ernest Henley, professor emeritus, physics, and dean emeritus, College of Arts and Sciences; Hubert Locke, professor, Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs; Thomas Pressly, professor emeritus, history, and Nancy Robinson, professor of psychiatry and behavioral science and director of the Halbert Robinson Center for the Study of Capable Youth. ¶