Merlon Stevenson

Merlon Lynn Stevenson
1923-2021
Professor of Physics, Emeritus, UC Berkeley


Merlon Lynn Stevenson, professor, experimental physicist, loving father, husband and World War II veteran passed away on April 10th in his Berkeley home at the age of 97. Born in Ogden, Utah on October 31, 1923, the oldest of five boys, Lynn excelled academically through a variety of military programs and was selected to take part in intelligence and cartography in the Pacific Theater. After the war, he enrolled at UC Berkeley in 1946 and married the love of his life, Lois Griffin Stevenson in 1948. He went on to earn a PhD in Physics in 1953 and was a professor and researcher until his retirement in 1991 when he became professor emeritus.

Lynn worked on many significant high energy particle physics projects during his esteemed career as an academic at Berkeley that were recognized nationally as well as internationally. Lynn was also an enthusiastic bicyclist, as well as an advocate for his local cycling community. Challenged by the steep hill leading to the physics Rad Lab, as a member of the East Bay bicycle coalition in the early 1970's they were able to establish more bike paths and develop a bike rack for campus buses, something that is commonplace today. He was a humble and appreciative person who will be profoundly missed by his surviving family and friends. A tribute to his life will be held at the John Hinkel Park Amphitheater in North Berkeley on June 26th from 12 to 3 p.m.