Stanley Bashkin

Professor Stanley Bashkin passed away on May 1, 2007. Stanley was born June 20, 1923 in Brooklyn, NY. He received a B.A. from Brooklyn College in 1944 (cum laude) and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Wisconsin in 1950. Following academic and research positions at Louisiana State University, the University of Iowa, California Institute of Technology and Australian National University, he joined the Physics faculty at the University of Arizona in 1962, where he served as a dedicated teacher and researcher throughout his career, until his retirement in 1995. Shortly after his arrival in 1962 he persuaded University president Richard Harvill to purchase a two million volt Van de Graaff accelerator to explore his new idea for atomic physics research called Beam Foil Spectroscopy. This new approach was very successful and led to an extensive federally-funded research program, also supported by NATO, involving an additional five million volt accelerator and many faculty, students and visitors over the next 30 years. A world-wide research effort in Beam Foil Spectroscopy ensued, with practitioners and colleagues found in Sweden, Germany, the U.K. and many other countries. To accommodate this expanded research program, in 1966 he designed and supervised the construction of a significant addition at the east end of the PAS building on the UA campus. A unique design element to fit the new Van de Graaff accelerator in its lab space was the use of an extremely heavy magnet, supported on a decommissioned Navy gun-mount, to rotate and direct the ion beam toward the different targets required for different kinds of experiments. Professor Bashkin was instrumental in establishing the University of Arizona as a first rate teaching and research university. He also served for a time as an Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. He was a fellow of both the American Physical Society and the Optical Society of America. He was presented with the "Outstanding Alumnus" medal award by Brooklyn college in 1975 and was an Alexander von Humboldt fellow in 1981. He was the author, editor and co-author of several books on Beam Foil Spectroscopy, a reference series on Atomic Energy Levels and Grotrian Diagrams, and more than 100 scientific papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Professor Bashkin was a visiting scholar at Oxford (U.K.), Canberra (Australia, twice), Lund (Sweden, many times) and Bochum (Germany), among other institutions. He translated an introductory textbook on atomic spectroscopy from German into English. Dr. Bashkin was also an entrepreneur and inventor, submitting a patent for an ion gauge before obtaining his Ph.D., co-inventing a method of ion-beam polishing that was patented in 1970, and co-founding the Arizona Carbon Foil Company in the 1970's. Stanley was a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather who will be missed greatly by his family. His hobbies included tennis, chess, and crossword puzzles. In addition to his scientific writing, he wrote numerous children's stories, letters to newspaper editors on serious and humerous subjects, and hundreds of cartoons. He was rather fluent in French and German, with knowledge of Italian. He is preceded in death by his brother, Henry Bashkin, and sister, Gladys Bashkin. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Margaret; son, James Keane; daughter-in-law, Shelley Shray; grandsons, Jacob and Samuel of St. Louis, MO; daughter, Margaret Joan Karp; son-in-law, Benjamin Karp; grandsons, Jonathan and Aaron of Lexington, KY; son, John Stanley; daughter-in-law, Lisa Liou and grandson, Zachary of Fremont, CA; sister, Helen Bashkin and sister-in-law, June Bashkin, both of Washington DC. He is also survived by nephew, David Santo (Michelle) and niece, Susan Santo. The Bashkin family wish to thank Carondelet Hospice, especially Sally and Michelle and the volunteers, Wendy and Terry. Margarita and Angelica Reiss, Charles Clark, Cheryl Schrouk, Gloria Federico, and Lucina were wonderful friends and helpers. We also wish to thank Margaret and Stanley's longtime friends who gave their love and support in countless ways during this time. If you wish to honor Stanley's memory donations may be made in his name to Carondelet Hospice Care 630 N. Alvernon Way Ste. 361 Tucson, AZ 85711, or the University of Arizona Stan Bashkin Physics Undergraduate Memorial Fund to be sent to the Physics Dept 1118 E. 4th PO Box 210081 Tucson, AZ 85721. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, May 6, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. at The Arizona Inn.