September 3, 2019
Dear Members of our Campus Community,
I am saddened to inform you that Professor Emeritus Vincent Jaccarino, of our Department of Physics, passed away on August 3. Our campus is forever grateful for his notable research and teaching contributions and for his stewardship of our physics department, which has contributed to its stellar stature. Our heartfelt condolences are extended to his family and to his colleagues here at UCSB. My thanks goes to the Physics Department for sharing his career highlights below.
Professor Emeritus Vincent Jaccarino
1924 - 2019
When Professor Jaccarino arrived from Bell Labs in 1965, he brought with him two postdocs and soon had a very active research group. Much of his research has been focused on the fundamental excitations in magnetic materials using resonance techniques.
From 1969 to 1972 he served as Chairman of our Department of Physics. As a result of Vince’s leadership, the department attracted and promoted physicists that met the highest standards, such as Doug Scalapino, Dave Cannell and Paul Hansma, and helped to further strengthen its reputation.
During the early 1980s he became interested in superionic conductors and pursued problems in this area for several years. Critical phenomena in magnetic systems with random non-magnetic impurities was a focus of interest. Using a highly developed optical birefringence technique, his group made significant contributions to the field of condensed matter physics. He was instrumental in bringing the free-electron project to UCSB and was the first to use our infra-red beam for research.
Professor Jaccarino served as director of our Quantum Institute and developed the Center for Free-Electron Laser Studies. His honors included a Guggenheim Fellowship, and he was a US-Japan Eminent Scientist Exchange Program Visiting Fellow, and Lady Davis Fellow at the Hebrew University. He also served as Chairman of the Division of Solid State Physics of the American Physical Society and as Chairman of The International Conference on Magnetism.
After retirement he returned to his love of creating fine art. He was very active as a sculptor in his home studio and at Santa Barbara City College.
Our campus flag was lowered in his honor on August 28.
Sincerely,
Henry T. Yang
Chancellor