Robert C. Dynes, Professor of Physics and former President of the University of California, passed away on June 30, 2025, at the age of 82. A towering figure in science and education, Dynes was widely respected for both his scientific research and his visionary academic leadership.

Dynes was an experimental condensed matter physicist who made seminal contributions to the study of electronic transport properties of a wide range of materials, most notably superconductors. His research interests ranged from fundamental physics to device applications of superconducting tunnel junctions. His scientific excellence was recognized with the 1990 Fritz London Memorial Prize in Low Temperature Physics and election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1989. He was also a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.

In 2004, Dynes joined the Department of Physics at UC Berkeley, where he continued his research and mentorship of students. His time at Berkeley was the culmination of a long career devoted to advancing scientific inquiry and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Dynes began his University of California career at UC San Diego in 1991 as a professor of physics. He later served as department chair, Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and Chancellor from 1996 to 2003. He founded an interdisciplinary lab uniting scientists and engineers with students to explore material properties at the atomic level.

As UC President from 2004 to 2008, Dynes championed public higher education, expanding access for underrepresented students and strengthening ties between UC research and California’s public needs. He played a key role in launching UC Merced, the system’s first new campus in a generation.

Dynes often reflected on his journey from a modest upbringing in Canada to leading one of the world’s premier public research institutions, crediting education with changing his life—and dedicating his career to doing the same for others.

Accomplishments

• Internationally recognized physicist whose pioneering work in superconductivity and tunneling spectroscopy led to the widely used “Dynes formula” for superconducting density-of-states analysis.
• At Bell Laboratories, carried out landmark experimental tunneling measurements including verification of Eliashberg theory in superconductors and later served as Director of Chemical Physics Research, becoming a major leader in condensed matter and materials physics research.
• Awarded the prestigious 1990 Fritz London Memorial Prize in Low Temperature Physics for fundamental contributions to superconductivity, quasiparticle tunneling, and low-temperature experimental physics.
• At UC San Diego, became renowned for tunneling studies between YBCO high-temperature superconductors and lead, and was an early pioneer of ion-irradiated high-temperature superconducting Josephson junctions. He later served as Chancellor of UC San Diego and subsequently as President of the University of California system.
• Honors included election to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), fellowship in the American Physical Society (APS), fellowship in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and numerous awards recognizing his leadership and groundbreaking contributions to condensed matter physics and higher education.

Contributors:

Shane Cybart & Berkely Physics