In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus Alan Searcy

Alan W. Searcy, a professor emeritus in the College of Engineering, passed away on November 5, at the John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek.

Searcy came to UC Berkeley after graduating from Pomona College in 1946, and earned his doctorate in physical chemistry in 1950. He joined the Berkeley Engineering faculty in 1954, and remained a professor of materials science and engineering for more than 50 years.

Over the course of his career, Searcy achieved many accolades, including the Fulbright Lectureship (1960), the Guggenheim Fellowship (1967) and the Miller Research Professorship (1970-71). He was a charter member of the World Academy of Ceramics, an AAAS fellow and an American Ceramic Society fellow. Searcy served the Berkeley campus in a number of capacities, including appointments as Vice Chancellor from 1964-67 and Chairman of the Committee on Budget and Interdepartmental Relations from 1978-80. Searcy also served as associate director and head of the Materials and Molecular Research Division at Lawrence Berkeley Lab from 1980-84.