LAWRENCE SHEPLEY

1939 - 2017

LAWRENCE CHARLES SHEPLEY
Born August 11, 1939, in Washington D.C., where he was brought up. Larry graduated from Swarthmore College with a bachelor's degree in physics in 1961. He earned a master's degree and a doctorate in physics in 1963 and 1965 from Princeton University, where he studied under John Archibald Wheeler and Charles W. Misner. Following a two-year post- doctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, under Abraham H. Taub, he joined the physics department at the University of Texas at Austin in 1967 as an assistant professor, and was in 1970 promoted to associate professor. His research interests centered on the theory of general relativity, and his teaching encompassed all levels, from basic non-technical courses to advanced special topics. He retired in 1995. Larry was a longtime member of The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin, serving as a board member and president. He died of congestive heart failure on December 30, 2016. He is survived by his sister, Lona Piatigorsky, her husband, Joram, their two sons and their grandchildren, and by many friends, especially Nanette Dettlaff. At his request, there will be no memorial service or ceremony and no solicitations in his memory. Larry's final sentiments, in his own style, were, "Farewell and Good Luck."