Robert F. Christy (1916-2012)

[Condensed by Jess Brewer from the LA Times obituary on 05 Oct 2012]

Robert Frederick Christy was born May 14, 1916, in Vancouver, BC. He earned a bachelor's degree in Physics from UBC at 19 and followed it with a master's here in 1937 and a doctorate in theoretical physics from UC Berkeley in 1941. At UBC he was a classmate and good friend of George Volkoff. He taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology and did research at the University of Chicago under noted physicist Enrico Fermi before going to Los Alamos, where he was a key member of the Manhattan Project team that created the atomic bomb during World War II. While in New Mexico, he became a U.S. citizen.

Christy died of natural causes at his Pasadena home on October 3, 2012. He was 96. He is survived by his wife, I. Juliana Christy-Sackmann, two sons, two daughters and five grandchildren.

-- RonParachoniak - 2018-03-13