Professor Emeritus Robert P. Ely
Robert Ely, Jr. April 2, 1930 – August 20, 2025
Robert P. “Bob” Ely, Jr., beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and Professor of Physics at UC Berkeley passed away peacefully in his sleep on August 20, 2025, at the age of 95.
Bob was born in Freeport, Illinois, in 1930 to Robert P. Ely, Sr. and Katharyn Wilson Ely. He grew up in Freeport alongside his sister, Joanne (now Joanne Grace). In December 1952, he married his sister’s close friend, Margaret “Mickey” Carolyn Little, in their hometown, beginning a partnership that would last more than six decades.
Bob earned his BA from MIT in 1952. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant and served as a research officer in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He received his PhD in physics from MIT in 1959 and then joined the scientific staff at Lawrence Berkeley Lab. He was appointed to the faculty at UC Berkeley in 1962.
Bob’s scientific career spanned the development of the Standard Model of particle physics and of modern particle physics detectors. He was an author of papers ranging from tests of the ΔQ=ΔS selection rule and the observation of hyperon β-decay using bubble chambers, through studies of charmed meson decays using lead glass calorimetry and the search for free quarks using a dedicated detector consisting of multiwire proportional chambers and scintillators, and ultimately to the discovery of the top quark using the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). In 1993 Bob retired from UC Berkeley , although he remained an active particle physicist for close to 15 years beyond that. He served as a program director at the National Science Foundation and later joined the ATLAS experiment at CERN. As a member of the CDF collaboration and later as a member of ATLAS, Bob made innovative contributions to the development of silicon strip and pixel detectors and to front end readout electronics.
Robert Ely (far right) with members of the Powell-Birge Group in the early 1960s.
Beyond the lab, Bob was deeply devoted to his family and community. He and Mickey raised four children: Kimberly Ely Gresham, Courtney Katharyn Ely, Kirsten Margaret Ely, and William Dinsmore Ely. Bob served as a Scout leader and was active at Northbrae Community Church, where he sang in the choir, acted in musicals, and helped start one of the area’s earliest recycling programs. He also nurtured a love of the outdoors in his children; family life was filled with camping trips to Yosemite, the Sierras, and a notable adventure South Dakota (there may have been a tornado). In 1979 and 1980, Bob, Mickey and the “kids” (now grown) spent time camping in Tahoe-Donner while building the beloved “Truckee cabin,” where Christmas reunions and the couple’s 50th anniversary were joyfully celebrated. Bob and Mickey spent many summers there hosting their grandchildren, Diane and Megan for a month. During these summers, “Grampy” would take Diane and Megan canoeing and on special outings to The Treat Box bakery.
When they weren’t working or taking care of their family, Bob and Mickey enjoyed traveling around the world. They were cruise afficionados, crossing every ocean and making it to every continent.
In retirement, Bob and Mickey made their home at Willamette View in Portland, Oregon. There, Bob found joy in lawn bowling, tennis, bridge, book club, and helping fellow residents with computer and electronic support (stemming from a love of technical tinkering from the early days of his career through the end of his life). After Mickey’s passing, Bob’s companionship with good friend Jean Vicks brought him renewed happiness as they traveled the world together, from Japan to Africa.
Bob is survived by his four children, his two grandchildren, and his four great-grandchildren.