Rubby Sherr, professor emeritus of physics at Princeton, died July 8, 2013. He was 99.

Sherr graduated from NYU in 1934, and earned a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton in 1938. In 1944, while with MIT, Sherr was sent to the Los Alamos Laboratory with a team to develop the “trigger” for an atomic bomb being produced under the Manhattan Project.

He was on site July 16, 1945, when the first atomic bomb was detonated (using the trigger he helped develop). In 1946, Sherr joined the Princeton faculty; he became emeritus in 1982. His research focused on the physics, structure, and decay of light atomic nuclei.

Among his successes, in 1947 he invented a counter to detect and measure ionizing radiation. In 1953, he provided evidence of the 1933 “Fermi’s interaction.” Described as a tireless researcher, Sherr published his last paper in 2013.

He was predeceased by his wife, Rita; and is survived by two daughters and one granddaughter. In his memory, Princeton flew the University flag over East Pyne at half-staff for two days.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.

Graduate Class of 1938