Earl F. Worden Jr.
About Optica
In Memoriam: Earl F. Worden Jr., 1931 -2020
22 May 2020
Earl Freemont Worden Jr., Optica Fellow (1977), passed away on 22 May 2020 in Diablo, California at the age of 88. He was known for helping find the first energy levels in the elements curium, berkelium, californium and einsteinium. His research interests were molecular absorption spectroscopy, atomic emission spectroscopy and laser spectroscopy.
Worden attended the University of Hampshire where he received his bachelor’s and master of science degrees. He went on to the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) where he received his PhD in Physical Chemistry. His graduate thesis, The Spectra of Some Aliphatic Aldehydes and Their Monodeutero Derivatives was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. After graduating in 1959, he began working at Lawrence Livermore Lab, today a part of the National Nuclear Security Administration within the U.S. Department of Energy. Worden assisted as a member of their Physical Chemistry Section.
In 1985, Worden received the Louis Avrom Strait award for his accomplishments in molecular absorption spectroscopy, atomic emission spectroscopy and laser spectroscopy at the Pacific Conference on Chemistry and Spectroscopy. He was elevated to Optica Fellow in 1977 and was a member of the American Chemical Society, the Society for Applied Spectroscopy, and Sigma Xi.
Outside of chemistry and spectroscopy, Worden enjoyed a variety of hobbies. He enjoyed hiking in the Berkeley hills, Marin county, Big Sur and Mt. Diablo, ice skating, snow skiing, swimming, and surfing. He also loved his family, gardening, cooking, listening to Beethoven and meeting with his fellow UCB friends to play poker.
Optica and the scientific community mourn the loss of Earl F. Worden Jr.
