Dimitri Mihalas Obituary

Published by Legacy Remembers on Nov. 28, 2013.

World-renowned astrophysicist Dimitri Mihalas passed away in his sleep at his home on Nov. 21, 2013 in Santa Fe.
Dr. Mihalas retired from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1999 and from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2011.
Dimitri, to his friends and family, has donated his body to the University of New Mexico Medical School and his library to New Mexico Tech.
Dimitri was born on March 20, 1939 in Los Angeles, California where he grew up. He received his B. A., with Highest Honors, in three majors: Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy, from theUniversity of California at Los Angeles at age 20. Four years later, he received his Ph. D in Astronomy and Physics from the California Institute of Technology.
He then joined the facultyof the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University. In the following three decades, he was a professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Chicago, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
He was also a pioneer in astrophysics and computational physics and remained a world leader in the fields of radiation transport, radiation hydrodynamics, and astrophysical quantitative spectroscopy for most of his career.
His broad knowledge and immense contributions earned him election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1981 (at age 42, 15 years earlier than the usual age of entry) and many other distinguished awards. He was a laboratory fellow at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Dimitri had an exceptional record of both quantity and quality of work, and developed new and far-reaching methodologies yielding results of great importance. He made outstanding contributions to the field of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Besides many high-quality papers, he authored or co-authored seven books and co-edited three others. Among them, three of his books have been used as textbooks for both undergraduate and graduate students worldwide and translated into other languages such as Russian and Chinese. His book Foundations of Radiation Hydrodynamics has become the "bible" of the radiation hydrodynamics community, especially at Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and the Naval Research Laboratory.
Dimitri's colleagues and graduate students held him in high appreciation and expressed their admiration for him at the International Conference in Honor of Dimitri Mihalas for his Lifetime Scientific Contributions on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday held at Boulder in late March 2009. A symposium was published following the conference.
Throughout his long career, Dimitri gave generously of himself to all with whom he interacted. As an advisor, role model, confidant, and friend, he saw each person as an individual, acknowledging strengths, helping overcome weaknesses, giving encouragement, and enthusiastically praising their success. He touched the lives and careers of many students and colleagues and has left a lasting legacy to be cherished by those who knew him.

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5 Entries

December 18, 2014

Rosemary Blanchard

May 1, 2014

Cherilynn Morrow

As with the previous signing by Lynne Wood, I too just came across Dimitri's pamphlet on Depression and Spiritual Growth while sifting and sorting through my things during a time of major transition in my life. A few weeks ago I found some of his poetry and some memorable email exchanges among my papers wherein he was emotionally supporting me during a difficult time. Finding the pamphlet - the third reminder of his brilliance and kindness - stimulated me to Google him and to reach out with the proposal of a meeting this summer during my soul-searching walk-about the country. Like Lynne, I was deeply saddened for this search to reveal his passing...just months ago now. I am very grateful for this opportunity to post a note here.

I knew Dimitri in his days as a visiting scientist at the High Altitude Observatory in Boulder, Colorado where I was a graduate student in solar physics. He was a remarkable human being, blending the mind of a brilliant scientist with the soul of a poet.

Why does life speed along and we neglect staying connected with one another? This question will now become part of my soul-searching reflections...as I slow a busy, buzzy life down enough to catch up with it. In the case of Dimitri, this catching up will now have to take place in spirit, yet I've no doubt that it begins to happen even as I write.

Dimitri's pamphlet is so valuable to me now in helping me be of more informed support to a beloved friend in the the throes of severe depression.

I will honor Dimitri's memory during my walkabout this summer which will take me to Colorado and New Mexico to honor the passage of my own father.

All Love to Dimitri's family, and especially to his daughter (a lawyer?) whom I've never met, but with whom I feel kindred in regards to loving regard for her father. Dimitri once shared with me the story of how she saved his life through deeply informed patient advocacy following a car accident.

Peace, wisdom, strength...

December 31, 2013

Lynne Wood

I knew Dimitri only through his pamphlet "Depression and Spiritual Growth" which I just re-discovered this past week. I was so impressed, I googled him and was saddened to learn of his passing. His writing has been so helpful, and I felt like I had "met" a truly enlightened soul. I believe those of you who knew him personally were truly blessed. I am sad that I did not have more experience with him and his teachings.

December 2, 2013

Anthony Kaye

Dimitri and I became good friends during a class we took together at Sandia. He was a brilliant man and a great friend. He will be sorely missed.

November 29, 2013

Dimitri and I became Friends when he attended Urbana-Champaign Friends Meeting in Illinois. He gave me a copy of his Pendle Hill pamphlet on depression and spiritual growth; since I also had a mental illness, I was tremendously challenged by his statement that depression was a spiritual gift. I was tempted to say, "It's the gift that keeps on giving!" But with his example to encourage me, I worked hard and can honestly say it's been years since I've suffered any of those distressing symptoms. Thank you, Dimitri, for your spiritual honesty and your accompaniment on the road to healing. Blessings, blessings. Mariellen Gilpin

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