FPN13-52
US Fusion Pioneer Wulf Kunkel Passes at Age 90
October 6, 2013
Wulf B. Kunkel, a pioneer of the US fusion program, passed away
September 3 in Oakland, CA, at age 90. He joined the US fusion effort in
1956 at what is now the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL),
while also becoming a professor of physics at the University of
California at Berkeley. He led the fusion effort at LBNL from 1971 to
1991. In 1991 he became Professor Emeritus at Berkeley but continued his
research at LBNL for many years thereafter.
Born in Germany in 1923, Wulf studied physics at the University of
Amsterdam and, after the War, came to the US and received his Ph.D. at
the University of California in 1951. He was a Fellow of the American
Physical Society and was a Guggenheim Fellow twice.
He is survived by his wife, Erika, and numerous children and
grandchildren.
Wulf was a great scientist, educator and, most of all, a charming man.
He will be missed and remembered by all who knew him.