Truman Black
Winter 2012 · Comment ·
A professor emeritus in the Physics Department, Truman Black died Sept. 12 in Arlington. He was 74. Dr. Black retired in 2011 after 45 years on the UT Arlington faculty. A pioneer in solid-state research, he generated millions of research dollars for students and equipment, helped create physics graduate programs, and wrote more than 100 publications. He was known for his liquid nitrogen demonstrations that educated children through the Young People’s University. Black supervised the dissertation and thesis research of five doctoral students and 23 master’s students, and mentored dozens of undergraduates.
I was Truman Black’s student and research assistant in the late 1980s. Though I was quite saddened to hear of his passing, I thoroughly enjoyed the alumni article about his life and career at UTA.
Truman’s energetic enthusiasm, his damned-near-perfect photographic memory, knowledge of physics, and his direct-hands-on approach to his research continue to be strong influences in my career as a civil and environmental professional engineer.
My favorite Trumanism? That’s easy…
“Positrons? I don’t believe in them. They’re just holes in the Fermi Sea of Electrons. Positrons… HA!”
Please give my best regards to Alez Weiss, Suresh Sharma, Don Larson (if he’s still around), and of course, Bryan and Beth Black.
Sincerely, Rob Leslie (Physics, ’89)