Quick Shot

As the year comes to a close, we take a moment and remember those from our LLE family that we have lost this year.

H. Lawrence (Larry) Helfer, a Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and Senior Scientist at LLE passed away in April. A student of the late Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar at the University of Chicago, he joined the faculty at the University of Rochester in 1958, carrying out groundbreaking work in stellar elemental abundances. His subsequent research spanned a broad range of topics, from highly theoretical work to observational investigations covering broad scales, from planetary to cosmological. Larry collaborated with other LLE faculty and was well known for his insightful and stimulating questions at research seminars. He was also one of the founders of the University of Rochester’s C.E.K. Mees Observatory. Larry retired as an active faculty member in 1999, becoming a Professor Emeritus and a Senior Faculty Associate.

Nelson LeBarron, a Senior Optical Manufacturing Engineer passed away in October. Nelson was a key member of the Optical Manufacturing Group at LLE for 28 years. He served many roles from Coater Operator, Optic Component Assembler, and Laser Equipment Specialist. His work contributed in building LLE’s OMEGA and OMEGA EP Laser Systems; The National Ignition Facility laser in Livermore, CA; and the LMJ (Laser Mégajoule) laser located in France. He coauthored several articles, having worked on various research and development projects, notably as a key contributor to the development of an ion-etching process.