Revered NIU Physics Professor Passes On

Court Bohn, a NIU Physics professor and a well-known figure in the accelerator physics community, passed away last Sunday after battling cancer for more than a year. Two other major institutions mourn his passing: Fermilab and Argonne. He had been a member of both of these labs at one point or another. He had been instrumental in the formation of an Accelerator research center for the northern region of Illinois, which allows for a collaborative effort amount various institutions that have expertise in accelerator physics.

I first met Court at the Advanced Accelerator Concepts (AAC) workshop in 2004 at Stony Brook University. We sat at the same table during the banquet. In that short period of time, I had a very good impression that this was a gentleman with a very kind heart. You don't see too many of that in this field, and especially for someone of his stature. He was a member of the organizing committee for AAC 06 that we organized last year. Unfortunately, due to his health, he was unable to attend that, and his absence was clearly felt during the event.

We often say that someone will be missed after he/she has passed on. Court's passing will definitely be felt for a long time within the accelerator physics community, and certainly for those of us who knew and worked with him.

Zz.