Prof. Emeritus Moo Young Han Has Passed Away

Prof. Emeritus Moo Young Han Has Passed Away

Prof. Emeritus Moo Young Han has passed away on May 15, 2016 at the age of 81 here in Durham, NC. Prof. Han was a dedicated member of the Physics Department and beloved by students. Our condolences to his family. Some of Prof. Han’s important contributions to physics are outlined in his obituary in The Herald-Sun:

"Dr. Han is best known for his groundbreaking discovery of the hidden symmetry of quarks, the basic building blocks of protons and neutrons that make up atomic nuclei. In 1965, he discovered a new underlying symmetry of quarks that later became known as the color charges of quarks. Universally recognized as the fundamental basis of all nuclear force inside atomic nuclei, the discovery was made together with Dr. Yoichiro Nambu, then of the University of Chicago, and published as the Han­ Nambu Quark Theory.

Possessing a rare talent for both research and teaching, Dr. Han was universally praised by his students at Duke for his ability to explain difficult concepts clearly and simply. For his dedication, Dr. Han received the Duke General Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award in 1972, the highest teaching award bestowed to Duke faculty members. Dr. Han served many national organizations as president, and gave frequent public lectures on a wide range of topics related to the universe and quantum theory. He authored eight books on quantum field theory of elementary particles, and was a guest presenter at the Seoul National University and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. He founded the Society of Korean­ American Scholars serving as the chairman and Editor ­in­ Chief, publishing online newsletters.”

If you have an account with The Herald-Sun you may read his full obituary online here.