William B. Marks

With grief and gratitude we mark the passing of William Byron Marks (July 30, 1933, Montgomery, Alabama to June 9, 2024, Washington, DC), a scientist, spiritual seeker, and musician who loved and was beloved of many people. Bill was the second son of Ellen Norwood Allison Marks and Episcopal preacher John Scott Marks, Sr. His older brother, John Scott Marks, Jr., and younger brother, Charles Lewis Marks, both predeceased him.
Bill completed his Bachelor's Degree in Physics in 1956 at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, followed by his Ph.D. in Biophysics in 1964 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. There he published ground-breaking research on color receptors in the eye, and went on to research emergent neuronal patterns in the brain. Bill's career continued at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Maryland, with work on neurophysiology of locomotion and computer modeling of the growth of neurons in three dimensions. After retirement Bill volunteered for many years at Washington's Jackson-Reed (formerly Wilson) High School, substitute teaching, tutoring science and supporting the robotics club.
Bill met his first wife, fellow neuroscientist Anne Foerster, at MIT, and they married in 1957. They raised their children, Matthew, Michael, and Laura, in Baltimore, divorcing in 1973. After years of devoted friendship, Bill married Sally Montague in 2006.
As a devotee of spiritual figure Meher Baba, Bill joined Sufism Reoriented, a spiritual school dedicated to him, in 1974. He was treasured by his companions there.
Bill befriended strangers at the drop of a hat and considered everybody "my people." He was vigorous, strong, and energetic. He loved to dance and would electrify a dance floor with his unique moves. He played trombone and cello; his children fondly remember him playing Saint-Saens' "The Swan." With his warm tenor voice, he loved to sing in small groups, such as the subtle harmonies of Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo." At the old family house in Perdido Beach, Alabama, Bill would canoe in the creeks and sail the bay in a small Sunfish with his children, daughters-in-law Paula and Caryl, son-in-law Rick, and grandchildren Helena, Bryan, Regina, and Peter. He loved to cook the foods of his Southern childhood like Hoppin' John and cornbread, as well as startling culinary inventions. Walks with his spouse in Washington's Rock Creek Park were a special joy.
In his later years Bill developed a theory that synthesized theoretical physics and mysticism, seeing the universe as a single evolving consciousness. He referred to that consciousness as "Not just a word, a felt dazzle of living process. Truth breathes close, closes in."
Memorials will be private.