William Robert Davison

William Robert Davison passed on February 10, 2023, surrounded by his wife of 50 years and his four loving children. He was a gentleman, a nuclear physicist, a man of integrity and the greatest father his children could have ever imagined.
Bill was born William Robert Davison on December 18, 1944, in Jersey City, New Jersey – to William Weir Davison and Jeanette Alvina Petroski. He was the oldest of three children, big brother to his sisters Janet and Joanie.

As a boy, he was known as a hard worker who looked after his family. He excelled academically, earning scholarships to high school, college, and graduate school. In college, he chose to study nuclear physics "because it sounded hard" and he pursued that as a profession after receiving his Masters degree. His plans to earn his PhD were thrown aside when he was convinced to fly out to San Diego for a job interview. He stepped off the plane, saw the palm trees swaying and decided he was staying no matter what. Luckily, he was offered the job on the spot and accepted.

His first overseas project was in England, which is where he met his wife Prudence. She was beautiful, creative and artistic, with a dry British sense of humor. She was a perfect complement to him, and they soon married and moved to San Diego to make a life together.

In the decades that followed, Bill did amazing work in his field, developing advanced ways for mankind to harness energy, protect humanity and explore new worlds. He helped invent new technologies for safely destroying old warheads in China. Novel ways for astronauts to process waste on the moon. He worked to commercialize algae biodiesel as an alternative fuel for the world, and led the team that cleaned up Chernobyl after disaster struck in Ukraine.

After retiring, Bill served as President for the local chapter of a non-profit global affairs organization and thoroughly enjoyed "solving the world's problems" with the many friends he made there.

Bill loved working on hard problems with smart people. He enjoyed his work. He took great joy in traveling with his wife to new countries. He loved a good game of poker and even bad days on the golf course. But the thing that always mattered most to him was family.

Throughout his life he put his role as father first, checking his children's homework every night, attending every soccer and baseball game they had, and ensuring they felt immensely loved and supported. He taught them how to lead with optimism, to have a strong moral compass, to recognize the good in every situation and to believe they could do anything. For this, they will be forever grateful. He also bought them lottery tickets whenever the jackpot went over $300 million.

Friends old and new flew in from across the world for his celebration of life, which was held outdoors at his home last month, with stories, songs and memories from his four children, nine grandchildren and others whose lives he touched. He will be deeply missed, and his legacy will live on forever.