William M. Yen, 72, Graham Perdue Professor of Physics, University of Georgia, died Thursday, January 17, 2008.  He was born in Nanjing, China, April 5, 1935.  He grew up in Mexico City where his father was a diplomat with the Chinese government.  At age 12 the family moved to Shanghai, China.  In 1948 the family left mainland China and his father became a diplomat for the government in Taiwan. Dr. Yen then went to school in Penang, Indonesia.  At age 16 he and his older brother moved to Redlands, California where his brother started college and Dr. Yen finished high school.

Dr. Yen received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Redlands in 1956 and his PhD from Washington University-St. Louis in 1962.  He then did post-doctoral research with Nobel Laureate Arthur Schawlow at Stanford University from 1961-65.  In 1965 he took a position on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  In 1986 Dr. Yen was hired to fill the first Graham Perdue Chair of Physics position at the University of Georgia.

Dr. Yen was well known internationally as a leader in the field of optical properties of solids and was a pioneer in the application of lasers in the study of condensed matter.  Some of the awards and prizes he has won:

• 2005 – University of Georgia Lamar Dodd Creative Research Award, and the International Conference on Luminescence International Prize on Luminescence Research

• 1995-96 – Fulbright Senior Scholar

• `985 Alexander von Humboldt U.S. Senior Scientist Award

• 1979-80  J.S. Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship

He was elected to be a “Fellow” to numerous professional societies including:

• American Physical Society

• American Association for the Advancement of Science

• Optical Society of America

• Electrochemical Society

Dr. Yen published 280 research articles and was the co-editor of 10 books and 6 conference proceedings. 

Dr. Yen directed the PhD research for 31 students and supervised numerous post-doctoral fellows, many of whom have gone on to prominent careers of their own both in industry and academia.

Dr. Yen was an avid philatelist, worked the Sunday New York Times Crossword Puzzle in ink each week, and loved his sports teams – the St. Louis Cardinals, the Wisconsin Badgers and the Georgia Bulldogs.  He read history voraciously and he loved to cook.  His annual Chinese New Years Banquets were legendary.  He also loved to cook Mexican food.  Undergraduate students will remember Dr. Yen as the physics professor who began each lecture with a joke.

William Yen is survived by his wife, Laurel, his daughter Jane and her husband Javier Revollo, and an older sister, three brothers and many nieces and nephews.

There will be a memorial Celebration of Life for William M.Yen at the UGA Chapel on Friday, February 1, 2008 at l:00 pm.  Friends are invited to share memories and reminiscences.

The family is requesting that anyone wishing to make a memorial donation in memory of William M Yen to please make it to:

Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center
Lung Cancer Research of Dr. Jennifer Garst
DUMC Box 3198
Durham, NC   27710