Necrology

Richard Strong Claassen '44

May. 10, 1922-Jun. 16, 2008

Richard Strong Claassen '44, a physicist and nationally recognized authority on materials research, who enjoyed a long and distinguished career with Sandia National Laboratories, was born on May 10, 1922, in Ithaca, NY. The only son of Peter W. Claassen, a professor of biology at Cornell University who died when "Dick" Claassen was 14 years old, and the former (Mary) Evelyn Strong, a librarian at Cornell, he grew up in Ithaca and was graduated from Ithaca High School. He came to College Hill in 1940, joined the Emerson Literary Society, and was elected to D.T. However after two years, his desire to pursue a concentration in physics prompted him to transfer to Cornell.

After earning his B.S. degree in physics from Cornell in late 1943 and buttressed by a bit of graduate study, Dick Claassen worked for two years as a research assistant in the Special Alloy Metals (SAM) Laboratory at Columbia University. It was connected with the U.S. Army's Manhattan Engineering District, engaged in research in connection with development of the atomic bomb. As part of what became known as the Manhattan Project, he performed fluid dynamic experiments in support of efforts at Oak Ridge Laboratories to enrich uranium by gaseous infusion. With the closing of the SAM Laboratory after World War II's end in 1946, he enrolled in the graduate program in physics at Columbia. After obtaining his M.S. in 1947, he transferred to the University of Minnesota to study nuclear physics. He earned his Ph.D. there in 1950 and moved a year later to Albuquerque, NM, to join Sandia National Laboratories. Accompanying him was his wife, the former Ruth Leonard, whom he had met as a fellow student at Cornell and married on August 4, 1945, in Cleveland, OH.

At Sandia, Dr. Claassen directed a major development feasibility study of the nuclear weapons program (1955-56), ­followed by his founding of a physical sciences research department to pursue basic research. He was promoted to director of physical research in 1960, the first to hold that post. He later served as director of electronic components and materials and process sciences. Appointed vice president and head of Sandia's branch lab in ­Livermore, CA, in 1982, he left Albuquerque after 31 years and moved to the West Coast. He remained director of the Livermore lab until his mandatory retirement at age 65 in 1987.

Because of his scientific expertise and administrative skills, Dick Claassen was much in demand as a consultant. For many years before and after his retirement he consulted with government science agencies and committees, and professional organizations and universities developing material sciences programs. A fellow of the American Physical Society, he chaired the solid state sciences panel of the National Academy of Sciences and was a member of the National Materials Advisory Board as well as the Energy Task Force. In 1967, he was presented with the Outstanding Scientist Award by the New Mexico Academy of Sciences.

Physically active throughout his life, Dick Claassen was a passionate skier who continued to take to the slopes until his mid-70s. He was also an ardent golfer who was last seen on the greens just six weeks prior to his death. Adept with his hands in woodworking and mechanical repair, he also delighted in music and enjoyed singing as a member of a barbershop chorus. After he and Ruth moved to a retirement community in Santa Rosa CA, in 2002, he continued active, playing (and teaching) bridge and lending his administrative talent to committees and boards, all the while expanding his intellectual horizons by attending classes and lectures.

Richard S. Claassen, a loyally supportive alumnus, died at his home in Santa Rosa on June 16, 2008. In addition to his wife of 63 years, he is survived by a son, Peter W. Claassen; two daughters, Ann and Sarah D. Claassen; and two granddaughters.

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