荔枝视频

Dr. Clifford John Bland, a professor emeritus with the in the , at the age of 88.

Dr. Bland, PhD, worked at the 荔枝视频 for nearly three decades.

鈥淗e was a central member of the department for many years,鈥� says Dr. , PhD, department head for Physics and Astronomy.

John Bland, who was born in London, England, got his degree at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in 1963 and joined the 荔枝视频 as an associate professor in 1968.

During his time at U荔枝视频, he participated in many field and laboratory experiments and continued his research on cosmic rays. He published a , which some say was instrumental in shaping his academic career, in 1976.

From 1985 to 1995, Dr. Bland was department head in the Department of Physics, renamed the Department of Physics and Astronomy in 1989.

His family describes him as a 鈥渢rue adventurer in both his world travels and his research.鈥�

Henry Bland says his dad loved to travel and learned many languages during his life: Spanish, Italian, Russian, and French among them.

As a university student in London, John Bland took a summer job in Spain where he worked for the Marconi radio company testing vacuum tubes.

He later accepted an opportunity in Bolivia at a high-altitude cosmic ray observatory to operate and develop instrumentation. During his time there, he met Prince Philip during an official visit.

鈥淗e had a question he asked my father, and my dad said, 鈥楲et me draw you a diagram,鈥欌�� recalls Henry Bland, adding his dad borrowed Prince Philip鈥檚 pen to draw the diagram and then put it in his own pocket.

It led Prince Philip to quip, 鈥淚鈥檒l have my pen back.鈥�

During his time in Bolivia, John Bland met his wife, Beatriz, at the British consulate where she worked as a secretary. The couple moved to Italy, where both Henry and his sister, Julie, were born.

When Dr. Bland attended a cosmic ray conference in Alberta, his son says he visited the cosmic ray station at the top of Sulfur Mountain in Banff, and fell in love with the area.

The family moved to 荔枝视频 when he got his job as a physics professor.

鈥淗e liked chemistry, but he got sidetracked by physics,鈥� Henry Bland says with a laugh.

The elder Bland鈥檚 work evolved to incorporate chemistry with physics, developing techniques to measure low-level radiation in water and soil. He tested it after the Chernobyl disaster, an explosion at a nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine in 1986.

His dad鈥檚 biggest accomplishment, though, was the 鈥渘umber of students鈥� lives that he touched.鈥�

Henry Bland adds that his dad inspired him to get into science.

鈥淚 ended up 鈥榙owngrading鈥� from science to engineering,鈥� he says laughingly, quickly adding, 鈥渋n his mind.鈥�

John Bland worked at the university until about 1997 when, as department head, he brought on Knudsen as one of his final hires.

"I took over his lab when he left,鈥� recalls Knudsen, noting he found a container labelled 鈥渞adioactive鈥� and had to bring in an expert to handle it. 

He remembers Dr. Bland as a 鈥淓nglish gentleman鈥� who was a 鈥渨alking encyclopedia.鈥�

Dr. , PhD, a physicist and astronomer in the department, says John Bland was one of his committee members when he moved from Russia to do his post-doctoral work at U荔枝视频.

鈥淗e was very tidy, very neat and very detail oriented,鈥� he says.

Kouznetsov lost his own father when he was 33 and says Dr. Bland 鈥渨as a man I could discuss everything with, no question.鈥�

He says he鈥檒l 鈥渕iss the sound of his voice, his jokes and his devotion to physics.鈥�

A will be held for Dr. Bland on Saturday March 8 at 3 p.m. The flags on campus have been lowered to half-mast today in advance of his memorial.