John H. Marburger ’62

Jack died July 28, 2011, on Long Island, N.Y., of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

He came to us from Bladensburg (Md.) High School. Graduating with honors in physics, Jack was a member of Quadrangle and roomed with George Wofford and John Cadman. A Commons captain, he also was manager of the Student Refreshment Agency and co-captain of the rifle team.

While studying for a Ph.D. at Stanford (where he was a Shuichi Kusaka Memorial Prize winner) he worked at Goddard Space Center. He taught at USC, chaired its physics department, became a dean, and then became president of SUNY Stony Brook in 1980. Jack became a Princeton trustee in 1985.

He led a commission investigating the incomplete Shoreham nuclear plant for New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and became director of Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1998, shutting down the reactor. President George W. Bush appointed Jack, a Democrat, as his science adviser in September 2001.

One of Jack’s strengths was his ability to convey conclusions of commissions and not force his own opinions/ideology on their findings, be it on stem-cell research or radiation incidents.

The class extends its sympathy to his widow, Carol; sons John and Alexander; his sister, Mary; and his grandson. President Bush said he was “a joy to work with.”