John P. Giese, Associate Professor of Physics at Kansas
State University, died on July 23, 1995, of respiratory failure
due to
cystic fibrosis.
John was born Sept. 14, 1959, in
Leavenworth, Kansas. He earned his B.S. degree from KSU in 1982
(Magna cum Laude, Honors Program) and earned his Ph.D. from KSU
in 1986. He spent one year as a visiting research scientist at the
University of Aarhus
and one year as an ORAU postdoctoral
fellow at
Oak Ridge
before returning to join the KSU faculty in
1989 as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate
Professor in 1993.
John's early research at KSU was on electron capture from
inner shells and from atomic hydrogen by highly charged ions. At
Aarhus he and Erik Horsdal Pederson worked on angular
distributions of hydrogen atoms formed from fast-proton
bombardment of helium. They reported a peak in the ratio of
double to single target ionization that helped to stimulate
recent attempts to factor simple collisions into underlying
two-body Coulomb mechanisms. He continued along similar lines at
Oak Ridge with investigations of two electron excitations in
helium by highly charged ions.
He developed an interest in
ion-ion collisions
and established a close collaboration with Erhard Salzborn and Frank
Melchert at the
Justus-Liebig University
at Giessen, Germany.
Building on this collaboration, he originated at KSU a project to
study collisions of highly charged ions with highly charged ions.
John was responsible for the building up of the only facility in
the United States for the study of such collisions. This
facility was just reaching completion at the time of his death.
In addition to his many research contributions in ion-atom collisions,
he took great interest in undergraduate teaching. He
helped to develop new curricula and new courses in physics and
gave much of his time to talk to and encourage young physics
students. He spent his entire adult life with the full awareness
that he had less time to spend on earth than most have, and he
was always in a hurry to get on with life so as to miss as little
as possible.
A John Giese memorial scholarship fund has been set up, and
we expect to award the first scholarship this spring. Recipients
will be outstanding students, active in the physics club and
departmental research. In this way, we can honor some qualities
that made John such a special person.
The family's address is:
Don & Agnes Giese
1012 South Third Street
Leavenworth, Ks 66048
Memorials to John may be made to any of the following:
Department of Physics Scholarship:
Kansas State University Foundation
John Giese Memorial Scholarship
2323 Anderson
Manhattan, Ks 66506
Research into Cystic Fibrosis:
Heart of America Chapter
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
5750 West 95th Street, Suite 214
Overland Park, Ks 66207-2969
Catholic Education Scholarship:
John Giese Memorial Scholarship
Immaculata High School
600 Shawnee Street
Leavenworth, Ks 66048
John P. Giese, Associate Professor of Physics at Kansas
State University, died on July 23, 1995, of respiratory failure
due to
cystic fibrosis.
John was born Sept. 14, 1959, in
Leavenworth, Kansas. He earned his B.S. degree from KSU in 1982
(Magna cum Laude, Honors Program) and earned his Ph.D. from KSU
in 1986. He spent one year as a visiting research scientist at the
University of Aarhus
and one year as an ORAU postdoctoral
fellow at
Oak Ridge
before returning to join the KSU faculty in
1989 as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate
Professor in 1993.