UCSD founding chancellor and world-renowned physicist Herbert F. York died May 19 at Thornton Hospital. He was 87.
Born in Rochester, N.Y., York obtained his Ph.D. in physics from UC Berkeley in 1949.
York’s career as a scholar, researcher and diplomat spanned more than 60 years. He worked as a nuclear physicist with the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb, and later advocated arms control and social responsibility.
York was the first director of the defense research and engineering department in 1947, served as an adviser to various presidents ‘mdash; beginning with Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1951 ‘mdash; and founded the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation in 1997.
‘Herb was not only a leader of UC San Diego, he also was a world leader and had a global impact,’ Chancellor Marye Anne Fox said. ‘We will forever be grateful for his leadership and vision.’