After receiving a B.A. in mathematics from Harvard and a Ph.D. in physics from Columbia, Andy worked with Hans Bethe at Cornell University from 1954 to 1959 before joining what is now the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). He became director of LBNL in 1973 and served in that capacity until 1980, during the "energy crisis" of that period. In that capacity, he assisted in the buildup of the U.S. fusion energy program at LBNL and nationally. In succeeding decades he made many scientific contributions to the design of modern particle accelerators and synchrotrons.

As a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Andy served on several fusion assessment panels, including the Committee on Fusion Science Assessment (1999-2001), the Committee on High Energy Density Plasma Physics Assessment (2001-2003) and the Committee on Prospects for Inertial Confinement Fusion Energy Systems (2010-2012).

In addition to his 2014 Fermi Award, Andy also received the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's Ernest O. Lawrence Award in 1970, the American Physical Society Dwight Nicholson Medal (1995), and the American Physical Society Robert R. Wilson Prize (1997). He was elected president of the American Physical Society in 1998.

He is survived by three children and six grandchildren. No public memorial service is planned. Those wishing to make contributions in his name are asked to consider Amnesty International USA.