Arthur Kent Kerman

1929 - 2017

1929 - 2017
Arthur Kerman, MIT professor emeritus of physics, dies at 88
Former Laboratory for Nuclear Science and Center for Theoretical Physics director made important contributions to the study of nuclear structure and reactions.

Arthur K. Kerman, professor emeritus of physics and a distinguished international researcher in MIT's Center for Theoretical Physics (CTP) and Laboratory for Nuclear Science, passed away May 11 at the age of 88. He was a friend and colleague to numerous Nobel prize winners, a science advisor to President Reagan, served on numerous national & international committees plotting the course of science and advised over 40 graduate students many of whom became major contributors to the science of nuclear physics and came to occupy significant positions in government and academia.

Kerman officially retired from MIT after 47 years, and retained the title of professor emeritus from 1999 until his passing. Kerman worked full time at MIT and travelling throughout the country until age 85. Even when in declining health he continued to travel and work maintaining frequent contact with his friends and collaborators up until a week before his passing away. As colleague Mike Campbell of the University of Rochester poetically said after his death, "The world is a little more empty and quiet without Arthur in it."

Arthur Kent Kerman was born May 3, 1929, in Montreal. He graduated in 1950 from McGill University, where he studied physics and mathematics and won the Gold Medal Award for Physics given to the highest achieving student each year. At MIT, he completed his PhD in Nuclear Physics in 1953. Kerman became Full Professor of Physics at MIT in 1960. He served as the Director of the MIT Center for Theoretical Physics and later Lab for Nuclear Science. He served on many influential bodies, including the White House Science Council Panel on Science and Technology in the 1980s under President Reagan.

Kerman published or co-published more than 100 papers. He was made a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the New York Academy of Sciences; he was named a Guggenheim Fellow in Natural Sciences. He was associate editor of Reviews of Modern Physics.

A long-time resident of Winchester, Massachusetts, Kerman was the husband of Enid Ehrlich for 64 years. He was extremely attached to and proud of his children. Eldest son Ben Kerman is an MIT alumnus and physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston. Dan is a mechanical engineer at the FAA and lives in New Hampshire. Elizabeth is an architect and lives in San Francisco. Melissa has her own creative arts and crafts business and lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jaime got his PhD in physics from Stanford University, works at Lincoln Lab in Massachusetts. Arthur is also survived by 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Dr Kerman passed away surrounded by his children.

Gifts in Kerman's name may be made to the Arthur Kerman Fellowship Fund, For more information, contact MIT Director of Development, Erin McGrath 617-452-2807