John Silcox

John passed away in Ithaca, New York on April 25th surrounded by loved ones. John was born and raised in Southwest England by his parents Janet Jones and Arthur Leonard Silcox. He is preceded in death by his wife of 50 years, Heather Penhale Silcox. He is survived by his younger sister, Ann L. Silcox and his close companion, Cynthia Robinson. He is also survived by daughters Heather J. (Ron) Andelora, Allison T. Silcox, and Laurie E. (Jon) Clarke and grandchildren Tristan Clarke, Grace Clarke and Josh (Diana) Andelora.

John spent his early childhood in Saltash during WW II. At age 10, John outgrew the capabilities of his local school and was sent to Totnes, Devon to attend King Edward VI Grammar School as a boarding student, as his father had before him. John taught himself further physics and mathematics after reaching the school instruction limits. Forever pushing himself, he contacted the University of Cambridge and asked them to send him sample entrance exams for practice. He won an exhibition scholarship to the University of Bristol. In that town of Totnes, John met his future wife Heather P. Penhale, at age 13, after stealing her hat at a local event.

John earned his B.Sc. degree with first class honors in physics from Bristol University in 1957 and a doctorate in physics from Cambridge University in 1961. He spent his early research years at the highly regarded Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University. He held a research fellowship at Cambridge University for electron microscopy studies of magnetic materials. Heather and John were married in April, 1960 and in 1961, John and Heather emigrated to the US on the Empress of Canada’s final ocean voyage, where he joined the Cornell faculty as a 26 year old assistant professor in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics. John and Heather settled into Cayuga Heights initially, followed by a move to East Hill where their three daughters were raised and attended local schools. The family were members of the St. John Episcopal Church congregation.

Dr. Silcox spent the next 48 years on the faculty of the School of Applied and Engineering Physics, serving as director of the department twice. In 1985 he earned the Tau Beta Pi Excellence in Engineering Teaching Award. In 1988 he was named the David E. Burr Professor of Engineering and served as Director of the Cornell Materials Science Center from 1989-1997. He was especially proud of his work in securing a multi-million dollar NSF research grant to continue funding for the Center. From 1998-2003 he served as the Vice Provost for Research for Physical Sciences and Engineering and served for a time as Director of the Cornell Nanoscale Facility. He retired in 2009.

John Silcox was a fellow of the American Physical Society and a member and past president of the Electron Microscopy Society of America, from whom he received the 1996 Distinguished Scientist Award in physical sciences. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the world’s leading professional association of electron and optical microscopists. He won the award for “internationally recognized research accomplishments and distinguished contributions to microscopy”. Dr. Silcox served on the Solid State Sciences Committee of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council from 1978-82. He was a member and chair of the Materials Research Advisory Committee for the National Science Foundation, and also served as co-chair of the NSF Panel on High Resolution Electron Microscopy. He also served on the Advisory Committee to the Arizona State University (high resolution). He chaired the Advisory Committee for the Electronic Microscopy Center for Materials Science at Argonne National Laboratory. He published numerous research articles describing his work in materials science and electron microscopy.

John spent sabbatical leaves in France and Great Britain in 1967-68 as a Guggenheim Fellow, at Bell Laboratories in 1974-75 and at Arizona State University in 1983. His work in physics was a lifelong passion and he was especially proud of his work as a scientist and educator. He enjoyed his time advising and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students.

John loved puzzles, the harder the better and loved to do Black Belt Sudoku and physics equations. Other interests included Single Malt scotch which his grandson Joshua has inherited. He was a big believer in the power of education and funded his grandchildren’s higher education, a gift through which they will forever be empowered.

After losing his beloved wife Heather in 2010, John came to find peace again and bought a home in Tucson Arizona near his eldest daughter Heather Jane. After seven winters in Arizona he made the decision to return to Ithaca to live amongst many Cornell and Ithaca friends. He found love again over the puzzle table at Kendal. His middle daughter Allison, a NYC resident, spent many a weekend visiting and caring for John. He will be missed by many.

A memorial service may be planned in the future.