Gerald Leroy Fowler at Sandia National Laboratory

Gerald Leroy Fowler was a veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the lead technician in the Field Emission laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University and was a master technician in the Surface Science division at

Sandia National Laboratories Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force B ...

in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was the author or co-authored of nine technical publications in refereed journals.

Life

Gerald Leroy Fowler was a veteran of World War II, serving with the 1570th Engineering Heavy Shop Company and the 562nd Engineering Boat Maintenance Battalion. He received the Philippines Liberation Ribbon with one Bronze Star, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 2 Bronze Stars, and the

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal was a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. Histo ...

. At the end of World War II "Gerry" was hired by

Erwin Müller Erwin may refer to: People Given name * Erwin Chargaff (1905–2002), Austrian biochemist * Erwin Chemerinsky (born 1953), American legal scholar * Erwin Dold (1919–2012), German concentration camp commandant in World War 2 * Erwin Hauer (1926 ...

as the lead technician in the Field Emission laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University where he designed and constructed scientific instruments and helped to educate a cadre of undergraduate and graduate physics students. He was instrumental in the design and construction of the

Atom probe The atom probe was introduced at th14th Field Emission Symposium in 1967by Erwin Wilhelm Müller and J. A. Panitz. It combined a field ion microscope with a mass spectrometer having a single particle detection capability and, for the first tim ...

and was recognized for his contribution in the first atom probe publication. Gerry retired from Penn State in 1975 and was immediately hired in the Surface Science division at

in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he published several technical papers and received the “Department 1110 Technical Excellence Award” from Sandia National Laboratories in May 1990 and the “Outstanding Lifetime Contribution” award for Vacuum Science and Technology from the New Mexico Chapter of the

American Vacuum Society AVS: Science and Technology of Materials, Interfaces, and Processing (formally the American Vacuum Society, Inc.) is a professional and scientific society founded in 1953 as a committee on vacuum technology. The AVS supports networking among its ...

in April 1994. Jerry received the 1988 Shop Note of the Year Award from the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology for his publication “Coaxial helium Leak detection Probe”. He retired from Sandia in 1994. In 1995 Gerry published his autobiography: ''My Little Corner of the World''. Fowler was a Charter Member of New Mexico Military Vehicle Preservation Association - Roadrunner Convoy in Albuquerque and the proud owner of “Henrietta” (an original military jeep) that he exhibited in parades and veteran events in New Mexico and Pennsylvania. Gerry died peacefully on October 21, 2010, at the age of 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Gerald American scientific instrument makers 2010 deaths Sandia National Laboratories people