Robert Birge

Robert Walsh (Bob) Birge Died of a brain tumor on August 16, 2010, at the age of 86. Bob was born in Berkeley, attended University High School, UC Berkeley, and was drafted and sent to work on the Manhattan Project. He got his doctorate in physics at Harvard and married his Harvard classmate Ann Chamberlain. They moved back to Berkeley in 1950, and Bob worked at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, as a researcher and as Director of Physics, retiring in 1994. He was active in the World Federalists and worked for nuclear disarmament. Bob loved to cook and travel, and often attended local cultural events. After Ann died suddenly in 1994, he was married to Elizabeth Thomas until her untimely death in 2007. He was fortunate to have Barbara Borowiak as his partner for the last 2 years of his life. Bob is survived by his children, Margit, Bettine, Norman, and step-son Julian Thomas; grandchildren, Ben & Alex Holme of Oakland, Henry Birge-Lee of Los Angeles, Julian & Adrian Birge of East Lansing, Michigan, and step-grandchildren Alex & Ashley Thomas of Orinda.