George Anthony Victor was born on November 15, 1936. He graduated with a BS degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1958. He then began graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in 1962 he joined the Geophysics Corporation of America (later GCA) as a research scientist. GCA was a newly formed private company engaged initially in research sponsored largely by the Department of Defense. The research was directed to studies of the upper atmosphere and included rocket‑borne experiments.
George wished to resume his graduate studies and he persuaded GCA to provide financial support for him to attend the Queen's University of Belfast which was recognized as a leading center in upper atmospheric research. As it happened, George became interested in theoretical atomic and molecular physics, and his thesis involved applications of time‑dependent perturbation theory and the development of a variational approach to the random phase approximation under the supervision of one of us (AD). His subsequent research combined theoretical studies of atomic and molecular processes and applications to aeronomy and to astrophysics. He made important early contributions to developing methods for determining multiphoton transition probabilities. He had a highly productive relationship with Cecil Laughlin of the University of Nottingham, maintained over 35 years, in which they made effective use of model and pseudo‑potential theory to calculate the properties of complex atoms.
George was present at Queen's at a time when the university was edging its way into electronic computing, and had acquired a DEUCE (Digital Electronic Universal Computing Engine). George was unique in that he already had considerable experience and was an expert in Fortran. George was very much in demand and it seemed that the entire University came to consult him. Queen's tried to persuade him to stay as a Senior Research Fellow but after a year following his Ph.D. in 1966 he returned to the United States to GCA.
In 1971, he joined the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, where he was free to pursue his own research. He was an important player in the Atmospheric Science Satellite AE‑C and AE‑D mission, and he made substantial contributions to theoretical models of the response of the upper atmosphere to solar radiation. At the same time, he continued fundamental research on atomic, molecular and optical processes. Apart from a year sabbatical as a Visiting Fellow at JILA, George remained at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory until his retirement in 1994. He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1981 and he served as Secretary of the Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics Community (TAMOC) in 1986 and 1987. George was an enthusiastic supporter of the Institute for Theoretical Atomic and Molecular Physics (ITAMP) and was a great help in formulating the original proposal to the National Science Foundation. For some years George was in charge of the Visiting Scientists program, and was a valuable liaison to the atomic and molecular physics community. He died on March 4, 2008, in Reading, Massachusetts. His wife, Sally, died three months later on June 17. He is survived by his daughters Mae Jane Victor and Nancy Puchtier, seven grandchildren and two great‑grandchildren. George was an expert cabinetmaker and an avid golfer. He was good company. He will be greatly missed.
Nuclear physicist helped advance atomic research
The Herald-Tribune
