Lee H. Schick, retired physics professor at the University of Wyoming, died at age 84 in Cheyenne of COVID-19. Formerly of Philadelphia, Lee was the first child of David S. and Bessie (Zack) Schick. He attended the city’s prestigious public Central High School and upon graduation enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania.
After Penn, Lee went on to graduate school at the University of Colorado, where he studied theoretical nuclear physics. While at Colorado he met Patricia Neighbors, whom he married in 1961. After he completed his degree, the couple set sail for England, as Lee had been offered a postdoctoral position at the University of Birmingham, where he studied with Rudolf Peierls.
On his return to the US in 1963, Lee held a postdoctoral position at the University of Minnesota and subsequently became a member of the faculty at the University of Southern California. He joined the faculty at the University of Wyoming in 1970.
While at Minnesota, Lee collaborated with Jack Hetherington on the quantum three-body scattering problem, which had resisted solution up to that time. Lee’s suggestion that they utilize separable potentials provided a key advance. This, coupled with a novel deformation of the contour of integration, led to a successful completion of the description, one that was presented in a series of papers in Physical Review. At USC, Lee continued his research into strangeness physics and the quantum three-body problem by focusing on the enigmatic hypertriton, a barely bound Lambda-neutron-proton system, as well as Lambda–deuteron scattering and, later, Sigma–deuteron scattering. His separable potential capability and his quantum three-body expertise led to multiple insightful publications with numerous collaborators while at USC and UW, all of which helped advance knowledge of nuclear physics.
Lee joined UW as an associate professor of physics in 1970, was granted tenure in 1973, and was promoted to professor in 1974. He was appointed acting head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy for the 1982 spring semester and appointed acting associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences in August 1983. He served as associate dean in the college from 1984 to 1991. There he dealt with the myriad student and faculty concerns that came to his office. He was adept at designing solutions that were invariably satisfactory to all. He then served as head of the department for two three-year terms from 1991 to 1997. The time during which he was chair was a difficult one financially for the state, and the physics department was slated to be downsized or possibly eliminated. Lee was instrumental in keeping the program intact. He also served on the UW faculty senate for five years. He retired as professor emeritus on 31 December 1998.
His marriage to Patricia Schick, a Laramie attorney, produced three children. She preceded him in death in 2012. In 2015 he married Michele Wells Campbell. Weakened by heart and kidney conditions, Lee succumbed to COVID-19. He is survived by his wife, his children, five grandchildren, a brother, and a sister. He will be greatly missed by his friends, family, and colleagues.
