Kelvin Gideon Lynn
February 2, 1948 - January 2, 2020
Born in Rapid City, SD on February 2, 1948, Kelvin was the youngest of the four children of Mildred E. Gideon and Kelso D. Lynn. Curiosity and mischievousness reigned supreme in the Lynn household and was fueled by his parents’ acrimonious divorce in 1960. Kelvin was not a model child: throwing a desk out of a high school window, creating mischief on a golf course, mowing down stop signs and flaunting every rule in the book.
College brought him to Utah following his high school girlfriend. At the University of Utah, he found his passion in using an antimatter-based tool called positron annihilation. His advisor gave him considerable latitude. Kelvin seized the opportunity gaining his Ph.D. in Materials Science and a second bachelor’s degree in math, three years after his initial degree. Kelvin’s passions also found an outlet in a new girlfriend who would become his wife, lifelong suitcase-packer, magnet-winder, resistor-filer and the love of his life.
Kelvin’s first job following college took him to Brookhaven National Lab (BNL) on Long Island, where he continued to use positron annihilation to explore materials. There he developed several positron beam technologies which have been adopted worldwide. Kelvin’s phenomenal memory served him well, as he was able to integrate techniques and data from his previous experiments into new endeavors. In 1981 he was awarded tenure. Kelvin’s work at BNL earned him mention in Time magazine for his work disproving cold fusion and a spot on television’s 20/20, as well as the ire of BNL management. Concurrently, he and his team built the first nuclear reactor-based positron beam, sharing the ownership title of most intense positron beam and in a matter of months converting an electron beam to a positron beam, only to prove that a sought-after particle did not exist.
In 1996 Kelvin and his family moved to Pullman, WA, where he directed the Center for Materials Research at Washington State University (WSU). The transition from a national lab to a university took considerable work, but Kelvin was never short on dedication. He continued his efforts in positron annihilation building a new reactor-based beam. His curiosity then carried him in a totally new direction, that of crystal growth. Kelvin, with the help of his team, was able to grow crystals that captured solar energy at levels superseding the capabilities of current materials. In addition, crystals for other applications, even rubies, were grown. He nurtured and mentored several generations of young scientists, too numerous to count, who have spread across the globe contributing to over 300 refereed publications. In recognition of these accomplishments, Kelvin was named both a Regents’ Professor and Eminent Professor at WSU. His legacy in research will carry-on for decades to come through his many students.
Kelvin freely shared his ideas and insights with anybody willing to listen: friend, student, co-worker, or competitor. His successes were fueled by a never-ending curiosity, inability to be deterred by being proven wrong, the willingness to reapply old papers and zero hesitation to learn from failures, while looking through other’s trash, literally, for discarded equipment. When given thanks, he would just point out that science would progress faster, thereby revealing the secrets of nature. These many accomplishments were also reflected in the deep personal relationships he formed with his colleagues and students.
Kelvin could connect with almost anyone and nurtured friendships throughout his life. Wally Gator remained close with his high school friends, attending every reunion and riding motorcycles each year in the Black Hills. Professionally, his colleagues often became close friends providing a forum for robust debates, relentless teasing and more recently comradery on the golf course. A positron colleague once wrote that Kelvin “could charm one hump off a two-hump camel”. The friendships that defined Kelvin the most were those from his fraternity days. These friends were present throughout his life and quickly became his second family. This makes it all the more fitting that they were with him when he passed away skiing powder in the Utah mountains.
Kelvin peppered us all with question after question, a trait deemed ‘Kelvination’ by his father-in-law. There was no query that was too sensitive or off-limits. A canned response only provoked more intense probing and Kelvin took great pride in being the one “in the know”. His lines of questioning often carried into his love of music, particularly classic rock. Name that Tune was one of his favorite lines of inquiry.
He is survived by his girlfriend and subsequent wife of 52 years, Cindy Rice, as well as his two children, Molly (Jason Mullin, Eli, Hannah) and Adam, of which he was immensely proud. From him they learned to follow their passions and prioritize their friendships. Kelvin’s constant questions, work ethic and ability to bring people together, gave them a lasting template for moving through life. He was surprised and delighted by his role as a grandfather and derived great joy in Eli and Hannah’s progress and antics. Kelvin is survived by his three siblings: Judy Kieffer, Kelso (Jean), Nick; sisters-in-law Christine Weingold (Peter) and Traci Locke (Robert Grossman) as well as 11 nieces and nephews. Those who called him ‘Uncle’ frequently included ‘favorite’ first. His unremitting love of friends will live on through his second family, Dutch Kolff (Denise Dimitroff), John Bacon (Jane Smith) and Prescott Muir (Betty Ortega-Muir). His family, friends and colleagues will most certainly miss The Absolute Zero.
A Celebration of Kelvin’s life will be held Saturday, January 11th from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at Starks Funeral Parlor, 3651 South 900 East, Salt Lake City, Utah. Guests are encouraged to use the complimentary valet parking at the north side of the building.
Please share any photos of Kelvin to pictureskelvin@gmail.com.
In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners at GSENM.org
In Loving Memory
I would like to extend my condolences to Kelvin's family. I had the great pleasure of working for Kelvin at WSU, maybe I should say with Kelvin. Along with his many accomplishments, he had a sense of humor. RIP my friend.
So sorry for your very great loss. I hope it helps that Kelvin lived such a complete life. I enjoyed our chats at the course and rec center. Kelvin was a gentleman and a great guy.
Dear Cindy and family, Please accept my condolences on the loss of your Kelvin. May your memories of his antics and adventures sustain you in the days to come. Sincerely, Sue Kreikemeier
I was so shocked and so very sorry to hear of Kelvin's death, Cindy. My deepest sympathy to you and your family.
I remember the many occasions I met Professor Lynn and had pleasant conversations with him on matters of common interest, mainly positron annihilation. I had a dream to work in his group for postdoctoral research, which unfortunately never materialized. His seminal papers on diverse aspects of positron annihilation will continue to enthuse future researchers to pursue and enrich this field further. I pay my full respect to the departed soul and pray for it to remain in eternal peace.
Just a few days after receiving your joyful new year's letter, Cindy, we get the shocking message about Kelvin. Terrible. This is not fair. Just at the last positron conference in 2018 he and I talked about that we were the only two in the crowd who had participated since the early 1970'ies. I have always admired Kelvin for all his accomplishments and the time my family and I spent at Brookhaven is still one of the high points. We are grateful that we have been able to keep in contact during the many years. We send our warmest sympathies to you and your family. Inge and Morten Eldrup
Based upon my experience, Kelvin was both a wonderful and humble man. I am so sorry you are going through this.
Cindy and family, Please accept our condolences. Kelvin made our lives better, and he will be missed!
I am sorry to hear about Kelvin's passing. It is an honor to work with you. Please accept my heartfelt condolences from Japan.
This is way to Godamnded soon to be talking about Kelvin this way, and now. His timing was off, but at least the ending was right. He would have been really pissed if he just slipped away in his sleep. Just pick any encounter with Kelvin and it was probably a memorable one. In my very first conversation with him, the first thing he brought up was his angst about 'turning 30' - that your life was basically over after 30 (and this was when he was just 26.) So we just had to throw him a 30th "Birthday Memorial." Black suits, mourners, 'Happy Birthday' played in a minor key. The highlight was giving him what he always secretly wanted: TAP DANCE LESSONS! Cindy had taps put on his shoes, Kathy brought her dance teacher to the party, who gave him a lesson right on the spot. The grand finale was a big dance show on the kitchen linoleum - "Kelvin and Friends, heal-toe, double-time shuffle-step". And then there was Carrot Man. Of all his achievements, turning orange has to be in his top ten. Just ask Cindy. More liner notes: All of us - Kelvin & Cindy, Dayton & Shelley, Trish & me piled on their bed watching SNL; lots of frisbee and volley ball (an IV in the arm couldn't stop him); New Year's Eve/pass the hat; "Name It and Claim It," and, of course, many q-u-e-s-t-i-o-n-s. One last thought, for all you believers: God v Kelvin Game on.
I am so sorry to hear about Kelvin and am sending love and prayers to his family, especially Cindy, Molly and Adam. I have so many fond memories of spending time with Cindy and Kelvin on Long Island. I specifically remember Kelvin’s surprise 30th birthday party. He had mentioned that he wanted to learn to tap dance, so we gave him tap shoes and I attempted to teach him. He never made it to Broadway, but we had a lot of laughs. Rest In Peace Kelvin; you made this world a better place.
Kelvin was a senior statesman and a consummate university citizen at WSU. As department chair, I relied often on his wise counsel, and I stand in awe of his remarkable legacy of scientific achievement. To Cindy and family, on behalf of Physics & Astronomy at WSU, our deepest and heartfelt condolences. This is a terrible loss for our department and our community. Kelvin will be greatly missed.
My heart was greatly pained to hear about my friend! Kelvin was a great mentor and I am so thankful for all that he did for me and my family! I wouldn't be in the career I am in if it wasn't for his guidance and support. I will always have great appreciation and love for him and his family!
Ohhh Kelvin, how we will miss you! You had a way like no other to liven any gathering with your never ending questions and enthusiasm! We were lucky to have had you as a friend for the past ten years. I only wish we had known you earlier and could have been at your 30th and learned how to tap dance with you! You will be missed!
It is with great sadness that I write this. Kelvin was a good man. I am so sorry I am not there to honor Kelvin. He was admired, respected and loved. He was enthusiastic about everything, but I especially remember the many times when his enthusiasm with Physics led to long, after work conversations with Myron. They could talk for hours(sometimes the conversations were quite lively). I feel so fortunate our families were able to make so many beautiful memories together. He will always be in my thoughts. I will never forget.
Dear Cindy, Molly and Adam: We are so sorry to hear your sad news. Kelvin touched us all, leaving us lasting memories. Your family will always have a special place in our hearts. Kelvin and Myron had a one-of-a-kind friendship that, luckily for us, brought our families together on many wonderful occasions. We still talk about our Christmas dinners together...and what dinners they were! We fondly remember how in the midst of a delicious meal, with lovely conversation and happy chatter around the table, Kelvin would flash a mischievous grin and magically steer the dinner chat straight into a passionate, and heated (but friendly) political debate...always ending with laughter and smiles around the table. His passion and sense of humor was contagious. We know he will be sorely missed by all who knew him. Our heartfelt condolences, with much love, David, Joanne, Zachary and Rachel Port Washington, NY
I’m very saddened to hear about Kelvin’s loss. He was a great person, mentor, and star scientist. “I will always remember the day; the first time he met me in his CMR office, interviewing me for Ph.D. candidacy under his supervision. He asked me why (?), and how (?) kind of questions and that continued for almost 8 years of my tenure with him at WSU. I believe that many of his scientific ideas can win the “Nobel Prize” in Physics. “Death can never take him away, for, in the hearts of the people he inspired across the globe, the legacy remains and continuous throughout generations. May his soul find eternal rest!
Dear Cindy, Molly, and Adam: In the most heartfelt and complimentary way- Kelvin was a force of nature. Perhaps it is apt to bring forward Einstein’s quote, “Life is like a bicycle, to keep your balance you must keep moving.” In Kelvin’s case the bicycle was in high gear and difficult to stay up with. We feel blessed that we were able to know Kelvin. I will always remember the Sunday morning breakfasts at the Mastic-Shirley diner and the Christmas dinners at your house. Any gathering was highlighted by Kelvin’s lighthearted way of stirring up an issue whether it be personal or political. An illustrative example of stirring up a (non)issue is when he, in a mischievous manner, asked my dad often how he could let his son (i.e., me) marry somebody who was not Jewish! Kelvin mentioned this to Denise recently (reciting remembrances after my dad passed away) and this produced a bit of laughter. Kelvin’s influence on my career was significant. During my early days as an assistant professor, his words of wisdom and scientific collaboration were invaluable. With regard to the latter, Kelvin and I co-authored a paper in 1992. Working with Kelvin allowed me to appreciate why he was such a great scientist. His curiosity to understand nature was limitless. Every experimental observation had to be explained and nothing could be glossed over. I also experienced Kelvin’s competitive streak firsthand. On a visit to my father at BNL (during my graduate school days), I accepted Kelvin’s challenge to a racquetball game. I remember feeling a bit cocky, having played quite a bit during that period of time. Also, would it be that difficult to run-around somebody who had quite a few years on me? Well, all I can say is Kelvin took no prisoners that day and exhibited the boundless energy that he exhibited in so many other pursuits in life. If you are wondering, I did lose and I cannot remember playing since! In January 2018, I emailed Kelvin to congratulate him on receiving the WSU Showcase Award. I mentioned that I had found the article while surfing the web. He replied, “Thanks for wasting your time but I am sure your Mom mentioned something.” First, I found the article all by myself. Second, the reply highlights Kelvin’s lighthearted side that was so evident to those people who interacted with him. We all are better people for having known Kelvin. We send our heartfelt condolences to you.
With deep regrets we have heard that Kelvin has passed away. We will always remember him as a leading scientist and a tireless worker in the field of positron annihilation and as a spirited and likeable fellow man with whom we had many challenging and inspiring discussions. He will be missed. The UniBw Munich Positron Group Gottfried Kögel, Peter Sperr, Werner Egger, Marcel Dickmann
Dear Cindy, I saw an email from Tony Begley requesting that a posting be made on the APS journals site honoring Kelvin's memory, and that's how I found out (this morning) that he had passed. I have many fond memories of interacting with Kelvin at Ridge and at APS March Meetings. May the good memories sustain you and the family. Still miss you.
Dear Cindy, I am so sorry to learn of Kelvin's death. I always considered him a friend and admired colleague. He did some of the early MuSR experiments with me, helped me in using muons at Brookhaven, interested me in positron physics, made my sojourns at Brookhaven enjoyable and was just a grand guy. During the cold fusion episode he took the penny of my 10000 to 1 against bet. He did this because he wanted to at least entertain the possibility of it being true, before he demolished it. (He paid the penny.) Best wishes to you and your family in this trying time. Jack Kossler
Dear Cindy, We are still in a shock since we learned about Kelvin passing away. Kelvin was a dear friend, a mentor, an inspiration and a genuine great person. We will miss him the rest of our lives. We are with you with our whole hearths in this terrible time. Wish you all the strength to cope with the loss of your wonderful husband. With heavy hearts Csaba and Mina Szeles
Dear Cindy and family, I was so sad to hear of Kelvin's passing. I remember the days when I worked for Kelvin and his best friend Myron at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Physics Department. Those were the most memorable years of my life at BNL. May God bless them both. With my deepest sympathy, Arlene Rementer
Cindy, Molly & Adam, so saddened by the news of Kelvins passing recently. He was such a smart, kind, funny man and I know he will be missed terribly. I had such fun when I was around him. Much love. You are all in my heart.
Kelvin Lynn will be a man I remember for the rest of my life! The road of life makes for many strange meetings and circumstances, and so was the case with me meeting the incredible Kelvin Lynn! The year was 1985 and I had a boat for sale on Long Island, a 21 foot Mako, only a few years old- but I was getting another bigger boat and put my boat up for sale. And as the story of fate goes, the first person who saw the boat in an advertisement and came to look at it was a very interesting gentleman named Kelvin Lynn, a man back then in his mid to late 30s. We started talking, and I was immediately hypnotized by something very special about this extremely unusual man. He started to tell me about his career, including about working on a government project developing very strong laser beams that could shield us against enemy missiles, and then he started to tell me about his project of smashing atoms to find particles smaller than quarks, and then he started discussing antimatter dynamics! And please remember, he was talking to a guy that barely got out of geometry class in high school and still is not quite sure about the properties of an isosceles triangle! But yet this incredible man had me totally mesmerized explaining these dynamics to me and me, trying to grasp the concept of an unending universe! His passion of explaining this all to me were Lightning Bolts of enthusiasm! I had the boat up for sale for $10,000 which was a very fair and low price-finally Kelvin told me he really didn't come to buy the boat, he just wanted to compare it so he would know what other boats were like because he could not spend any more than $7500 on a boat. I was so impressed with him, I absolutely loved and was fascinated by him both mentally and spiritually, that without hesitation I told Kelvin if that's all he could spend, I wanted him to have my boat at his price. Kelvin was delighted, we made the sale-and I ended up befreinding Kelvin and when I got my new bigger boat, we used to go 100 miles offshore to an area called the continental shelf, or the canyon, and fish for tuna together for a couple of days at a time, with Kelvin sometimes bringing his scientist friend Lou who he worked with. The times of being offshore all night long with the stars shining in the evening sky brighter than you can imagine and Kelvin explaining so many dynamics and wonders about constellations, all space and time,--these are conversations for hours and hours I will remember for the rest of my life! But most amazing is when Kelvin explained the properties of antimatter-and when I was talking to Kelvin, he totally got me to understand this complex subject, but the minute he was not near me and explaining it to me, I lost the entire concept! Kelvin hypnotized me with his passion and brilliance! Over the years I lost touch with Kelvin, but absolutely never forgot him! A couple of years ago I realized I absolutely had to touch base with this wonderful man from my past again! I remember googling him and finding out he worked at Washington State University-but as life gets busy, I did not follow up. Finally this Christmas Day of 2021, I was at my wonderful nephew’s home telling them of my love and fascinating stories of Kelvin Lynn and then realized I absolutely must reach out and get in touch with him again. I googled his name again, but alas this time a website came up letting me know that Kelvin moved on to the next dimension! A wave of sadness and despondency came over me recognizing that there would be no more conversations with Kelvin, and it also taught me a lesson-DON'T HESITATE!-When someone is important to you in your life, do not wait, reach out, because the future is unknown to all of us! I was led to Kelvin's Memorial page, and amazingly on a video one of the photos exactly 5 minutes and 12 seconds in showed Kelvin on the boat I sold him working on it!--I almost fell over! If ever there was a sign,-that was my sign that Kelvin is still part of my life! My warmest thoughts go out to Kelvin's family. I also hope they read this to know I was part of Kelvin's life- and as so many others have written on notes of their remembrances of him,— Kelvin Lynn was truly a MAN among men and his love and wisdom still reverberates through so many of us! The gift of his wisdom and inspiration will live far beyond his physical being. Hail and farewell Kelvin and thank you so much for all the excitement, joy and wonderment you brought to me in our many conversations about the greatest mystery of all! The mystery of FOREVER! Travel safely through all space and time and may the stars always shine brightly on your soul! Love ~~~ Mike Jacobs
In Loving Memory
