Dear Colleagues,
It is with great sadness that I must inform you that one of our most distinguished and admired colleagues, Glenn Knoll, has recently passed away. Dr. Knoll was a tremendous mentor, teacher, and friend to countless individuals around the world. Having been a dedicated and integral part of our community from its founding days, he will be deeply missed.
I have taken the liberty of reproducing the memorial tribute written by his family below. In addition and as a token of our appreciation to recognize Dr. Knoll’s continued, significant contributions to the NPSS, and particularly the NSS/MIC, we are dedicating the 2014 NSS/MIC in his memory.
Anthony Lavietes, General Chair
Glenn F. Knoll
Glenn Frederick Knoll died April 20, 2014, in his winter home in Santa Rosa, CA. He was born to the Reverend Oswald and Clara Bernthal Knoll on August 3, 1935. The family moved to Frankenmuth, MI, when he as 10, and he regarded it as his hometown.
After earning an undergraduate degree from Case Institute of Technology in 1957 and a Masters from Stanford University in 1958, Glenn received his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in 1963 and was assimilated into the faculty of the university.
A gifted teacher and brilliant researcher, he served as a mentor and role model for generations of students. Colleagues claimed they made careers out of Prof. Knoll’s innovative ideas by turning them into applications in their fields, such as nuclear medicine, radiography, oil-well exploration, nuclear physics, environmental stewardship, and homeland security.
From 1979-90, Dr. Knoll served as Chairman of the Department of Nuclear Engineering. Under his leadership, the size and prestige of the department matured to its current level. After returning to the faculty ranks, he initiated a new research field of room-temperature semiconductor radiation detectors and led this effort until tapped to serve as the Interim Dean of Engineering for 1995-96. He again returned to his true calling, teaching and research, until his retirement in 2001.
Knoll's contributions have been recognized widely. He was inducted as a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, and the American Nuclear Society (ANS). Honors included the ANS Glenn Murphy Award for Education, the ANS Arthur Holly Compton Award, the IEEE Career Outstanding Achievement Award, and the IEEE Third Millennium Medal. A member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), Knoll participated in the formulation of post-9/11 planning through ideas published in the NAE book, Making the Nation Safer.
Dr. Knoll enjoyed the technical fraternity of colleagues and travelled internationally to participate in their lives. He served as an IAEA reviewer of international programs and taught his radiation detection course on every continent but one. As editor for the journals of his field, he was universally known and respected. His textbook, Radiation Detection and Measurement, remains the standard reference of the field after four decades and is available in multiple languages.
Glenn married Gladys Hetzner on September 7, 1957, and she survives. Together they had three sons: Thomas Frederick, of Pacific Palisades, CA; John Andrew (Jennifer), of San Rafael, CA; and Peter Glenn (Carola), of Andover, NJ. He delighted in six grandchildren: Andrew, Hannah, Harlow, Lisa, Alexander, and Jane. Also surviving are a brother Alan Knoll (Ruth), a sister Marie Kaiser, and in-laws Judith and David Berger, Virginia and Wayne Hatwich, and many nephews and nieces. One brother, Robert, preceded him in death in 1997.