Richard Levy, who worked on laser applications to nuclear energy, died Nov. 10, 2017, of cancer at age 85.
Born in London in 1932, Levy was evacuated to Montreal during World War II to escape the Nazi bombing. He returned in 1943, and graduated from Cambridge with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1954. He married and moved to the United States.
In 1959 he earned a Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering from Princeton. He then returned to Montreal and worked for Canadair. Later, he worked for Avco in Boston during the 1960s and 1970s. In that period, he worked on laser applications and patents for the use of isotopes important to the production of nuclear energy. This led to a joint venture between Avco and Exxon, and in 1974 Levy moved to Seattle to work on this project.
He left the corporate world in 1980, did consulting, and studied issues such as the Allies’ decision in World War II not to bomb the rail lines leading to Auschwitz. Levy was proud of his Jewish heritage and enjoyed the outdoors, the symphony, and opera.
He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Midge; three sons; and four grandchildren.
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