"Variety is the spice of life," was what Len Roellig often said. It was also his approach to life and the outlook he passed on to all who crossed his path. He loved watching waves breaking on the beach, or flames jumping from the log, because they were always changing and never the same. Driven by curiosity, the life of Leonard Oscar Roellig followed the same lack of fixed pattern; each day was an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to learn something new and to finish in a new place. This curiosity drove his interest and passion for his physics research as well.
Len was born in Detroit, Michigan to Oscar and Laura Roellig. He graduated from Denby High School and the University of Michigan, where he received A.B., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in physics.
Len served at Wayne State University as physics professor, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, and University Associate Provost. From there he moved on to the City University of New York, serving there as Vice Chancellor there for over a decade, before moving back to his first love, physics research. Len finished his professional career as professor of physics at City College, NY. After retiring he and his wife moved to Boulder, Colorado, where he kept an office at the University of Colorado Physics Department, teaching the occasional guest lecture and auditing classes that interested him - interests that ranged from astrophysics to ancient history.
Len's work as a professor and college administrator tells only a part of his professional story. Throughout his career as a research scientist he was affectionately known by his colleagues worldwide as "Dr. Positron." While at Wayne State, he founded the university's positron annihilation group. As a visiting faculty member, he founded a similar program at the University College, London. While in New York he conducted his research at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and in Switzerland he worked at the Paul Scherer Institute for Natural and Engineering Sciences. In 1965 Len, together with A. T. Stewart, organized the first International Conference on Positron Annihilation, the first in a conference series that recently held its 15th conference in 2009.
Len served in the US Navy during World War II and in the US Army during the Korean War. He was very active in the Lutheran Church throughout his life. Although he lived in many cities and countries, most of his life was spent in Detroit, Ann Arbor, New York, and finally in Boulder, Colorado.
While his work was his accomplishment and defined his days, his family was his contribution and defined his life. Len is survived by his loving wife of 57 years, Pauline; his brother David; sons Tom, Mark, and Paul; and four grandchildren, David, Brittany, Andrew, and Corrie.
Len Roellig was a husband, a brother, a father, a grandfather, a friend and a physicist colleague. But most importantly, he was a student of life and by example he was a teacher to us all.
