Joseph T. Rogers

Obituary
JOSEPH T. ROGERS
ITHACA - Joseph T. Rogers, of North Sunset Drive, Ithaca, passed away on May 25, 2004 of a neuro-endocrine cancer diagnosed in July 2003. He was 46, and an Associate Professor of Physics at Cornell University.Joe was the loving and devoted husband of Rene and father of young sons David (age four) and Michael (six months), who survive him. He is also survived by his father, Joseph W. Rogers and brother Steven Rogers, both of Glen Ellyn, Illinois. His mother Gertrude died in 2000.Joe was dedicated to appreciating his sons own unfolding interests, and sharing with them his passion for science. He enjoyed the outdoors with his family, sharing his interest in astronomy with David, and being longtime best friends with his wife. His family, colleagues, students, and friends will miss his exemplary gentleness and integrity.Born in Chicago, Joe lived for most of his childhood in the western suburb of Glen Ellyn. His parents, Joseph and Gertrude, were artists who had studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. He attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook, earning a B. S. in 1980. After working as an engineer for a laser optics company for two years, he returned to school, earning a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Rochester in 1987. His dissertation, Limits on the Electromagnetic Coupling and Density of Galactic Axions, was directed by Professor Adrien Melissinos. For part of 1987, he and Rene lived in Frascati, Italy, near Rome, while he was a Visiting Scientist at the Italian national laboratory Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario. He was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Rochester from 1987 to 1989, and Associate Physicist at the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island from 1989 through 1992.Joe and Rene moved to Ithaca when Joe joined the faculty of Cornell Universitys Physics Department as an Assistant Professor in 1992. Joe thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of his work at Cornell accelerator physics research, teaching undergraduates, guiding graduate students, and working with the international community of physicists. His research focused on the physics contributing to design of future high energy particle accelerators and tuning and exploitation of existing accelerators such as Cornells Wilson Synchrotron Laboratory. Particular research areas included computational physics for particle beams; collective instabilities in particle accelerators due to electromagnetic fields, particularly those of background ions and electrons; the beam-beam interaction; accelerator feedback systems; and diagnostic instrumentation; as well as physics pedagogy. He was a National Science Foundation Young Investigator 1993--1998, and a member of the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers. He served as Director of Undergraduate Studies in Physics in 1998, 1999, and 2000, and subsequently on the graduate admissions committee.Memorial contributions may be made in Joes name to the Sciencenter, Ithaca New York, or to the David and Michael Rogers Education Fund, c/o Sandy Grooms, Tompkins Trust Company, P.O. Box 460, Ithaca, New York. A memorial service is planned for the fall. For details, contact the Physics Department office at Cornell University after August 1st.