Edward F. Zganjar, Alumni Professor Emeritus at Louisiana State University and an eminent researcher in experimental nuclear physics, died 8 February 2024, from complications of peripheral neuropathy. In addition to his wife, Josephine, Ed is survived by four children and nine grandchildren.
Ed was born on 31 July 1938, grew up in Gilbert, Minnesota, and graduated from Gilbert High School in 1956 with a passion for science and math inspired by a favorite teacher. He earned a BS in physics and mathematics in 1960 from St. John’s University in Minnesota. That same year, he married Josephine Charmoli, his wife of 63 years. He earned MS and PhD degrees from Vanderbilt University in 1963 and 1966, respectively.
He was then an Atomic Energy Commission Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Research Testing Station in Idaho, 1965–66. He joined Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1966 as an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He equally loved teaching students and nuclear physics research. He was promoted to associate professor in 1970 and to full professor in 1975. He served as Department Chair (1982–85) and was LSU’s Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development from 1991 to 1994. Ed was recognized as an Alumni Professor in 1998. He built a strong experimental nuclear astrophysics group at LSU. He retired from teaching in 2003 but remained active in research and service to local and national committees.
Ed’s research spanned over five decades. He was one of the critical founding members of the University Isotope Separator at Oak Ridge (UNISOR) consortium in 1971. This group of 10 universities plus Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) built and operated the first university-initiated user facility at ORNL. He played a leading role in its development and successes over 40-plus years of activity. Ed made major nuclear physics contributions with his electron detector systems to study electric monopole (E0) radiation, which helped change the paradigm from each nucleus having one fixed shape to a nucleus having rotational bands of levels built on distinctly different shapes. Ed gave invited talks at international conferences on E0 radiation and its signature of shape changes. His work also helped provide an understanding of astrophysical processes. He held many guest scientist positions: at ORNL, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Geselleschaft fur Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany, and TRIUMF laboratory in Vancouver, Canada. He coauthored 161 journal publications, including 14 Physical Review Letters, in addition to 234 conference proceedings.
Ed’s experimental forte was developing new instrumentation. Over his career, Ed personally designed, built, and operated more than 30 major experimental devices of which many continue to contribute to leading experimental programs today at TRIUMF in Canada, ATLAS at Argonne National Laboratory, and the Facility for Radioactive Ion Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University. His construction creativity extended to his love of woodworking: designing and building many family items, including cradles for his four children, a magnificent tree house, and a beautiful dining room table that converted into a billiard table for family competitions.
Ed’s knowledge, attention to detail, and negotiating ability made him an excellent administrator. He served on organizing committees for many international nuclear physics conferences, several important committees for the Department of Energy and the American Physical Society (APS), and chaired external review committees of the physics departments at Oregon State University, the University of Tennessee, and others. He served as chair of UNISOR/UNIRIB’s executive committee on four occasions for two years each. From 1990 to 1999, he was a member of the North American Steering Committee that ultimately led to the building of FRIB. He also served on the Board of Directors of Oak Ridge Associated Universities.
Ed was elected to APS Fellowship in 1984. He received the Francis G. Slack Award from the Southeastern Section of APS for his extraordinary service to physics in the Southeast. He was inducted into the LSU College of Science Hall of Distinction in 2015.
Being a devoted family man, he traveled extensively throughout Europe with his family when he worked there. Often he was a guest speaker at his grandchildren’s science classes, giving talks and conducting demonstrations. A Minnesotan by birth, Ed quickly adopted the Louisiana way of life, and his crawfish boils were legendary. Jo and Ed were longtime members of the Karpaty Folk Dance Ensemble in Baton Rouge and traveled to perform in festivals in the US and Europe. They were active congregants at Christ the King Parish and Student Center and St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church.
Ed’s many colleagues and friends will always remember him for his very warm friendship and love of life, as well as for his dedication to research and teaching.
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