Martin Blume ’54

Marty died Oct. 6, 2021.

He came to us from Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he was active in basketball and student government. 

A physics major, he was a research assistant on the Princeton cyclotron, titled his senior thesis “Cosmic Rays as a Source of Extra-Galactic Radio Emissions,” and won the Shuichi Kusaka Memorial Prize in Physics — preludes to a distinguished career as a theoretical solid-state physicist. He was a member of Dial Lodge, played 150-pound football and basketball, and pursued interests in classical music, bridge, and mathematics.

In 1959 Marty earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics at Harvard, a time in which he married Sheila Bierman. Their two children were born during the ensuing three years of post-doctoral research in Japan and England.

He joined the Brookhaven National Laboratory’s physics department in 1962, became chair in 1975, and taught physics at Stony Brook University from 1972 to 1980. He served as deputy director of the laboratory from 1984 to 1996.

He is credited with fundamental contributions to the theory of phase transitions, understanding the properties of solids, elucidating our understanding of neutron and X-ray scattering cross-sections — and much more. He was known around the lab for a wonderful sense of humor, social grace, and a steadfast commitment to safety.

Marty is survived by his wife, Sheila; son Frederick ’81, and daughter Janet ’82.