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John Madey

The University of Hawaiʻi community is saddened by news of the passing of UH Mānoa Professor John Madey. He passed away on July 5, 2016.

John M.J. Madey joined the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UH Mānoa in 1998. Madey was best known for his invention of the free electron laser. A free electron laser device can produce very high intensity and high quality coherent electromagnetic radiation that is tunable over a wide range of frequency. This makes the free electron laser applicable for research in physics, chemistry, biology and medicine.

Madey had received numerous awards and international recognitions including the Stuart Ballantine Medal from the Franklin Institute in 1989, the 2012 Robert R. Wilson Prize from the American Physical Society and the 2016 Willis E. Lamb Award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics.

Madey was the keynote speaker at the 2015 Nobel Symposium on Free Electron Lasers in Sigtuna, Sweden. He held 13 patents on free electron laser related technological inventions.

For more on Madey’s career, read his obituary in Physics Today.

Memorial service

A memorial service to commemorate Madey’s scientific achievements and his friendship will be held on Wednesday July 27, noon–3 p.m. in the Wailana Room of Jefferson Hall at the East-West Center.

The Madey family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Optical Society of America Scholarship Fund.

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