Dr. John De Groot

DE GROOT, Dr. John
Plasma physicist and Professor Emeritus of Applied Science at the University of California, Davis, passed away peacefully in the presence of loving family on January 16th, 2007. He is preceded in death by the love of his life, his wife, Nancy De Groot on May 20th, 2006. John De Groot had a driving passion for science his whole life. The president of the science club at his high school in Los Angeles, John designed and built rockets and launched them into the sky. He met his wife Nancy in high school. A brilliant mathematician in her own right, she convinced him to get his Ph.D in physics, which he did at UCLA. There he made new discoveries about plasma physics while studying at UCLA, inspiring magazine articles published about him. UCD took note and hired him as Assistant Professor, and he relocated his family to Davis, where he ultimately was promoted to Full Professor. He often said he was the luckiest man on earth because he loved his work so much. A Fellow of the American Physical Society, Dr. De Groot published many research articles in the field of plasma physics, and his many former students are well recognized internationally. The College of Engineering is particularly indebted to Dr. DeGroot for his efforts in the development of a course on Numerical Computations in Science and Engineering, which to this date continues to have large enrollments from across the College. At the time of his death, he was writing a book on Numerical Analysis. He formally retired in 1994, but was recalled in 1999, s erving as vice-chair of the Department of Applied Science from 1999 to 2001. During this time, De Groot worked to establish the undergraduate program in Optical Science and Engineering, which began accepting students in 2000, and a second program in Computational Applied Science, which opened in 2002. He was a well loved professor, deeply appreciated by students and faculty alike for his talent and passion for teaching, as well as his open heartedness and generosity towards anyone who came into his path. His physics lectures were spiced with wit and his wonderful sense of humor, and he turned a lot of people on to the joy of science. He loved to camp and hike and traveled often with his family, including trips across the country and to Europe. John took his family camping to practically all of the National Campsites in the Western United States, stopping at virtually every historical monument or point of interest. In their later years, he and his wife Nancy nurtured a love of nature with frequent trips to the ocean and forests, as well as dressing up for lovely evenings at elegant restaurants. He continued his work, consulting and speaking around the country, and was always at work on one interesting project or another. Most recently, he and his daughter were writing a documentary, "Fusion: energy independence, freedom from oil," based on his extensive research on the topic of fusion energy, which harnesses the vast power of thermonuclear fusion, the process that powers the sun and other stars, to be used for power generation. His daughter plans to finish it. John De Groot was great fun to be around, and made friends wherever he went. A unique and beloved man, he will be missed by all, especially his family. He is survived by his son Anthony (Wendy), their children Michael and Stephanie, his daughter, Rachael (James), and his sister Joan Weltmann. For information about the Memorial Service call 916-441-3414.