Dr. William (Bill) Errol Blass

Dr. William (Bill) Errol Blass, age 78, Emeritus Professor of Physics & Astronomy at UTK passed away on February 16 (2016) from complications of Parkinson’s disease at his home surrounded by family. Bill was born on August 5, 1937 and grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He obtained a BA degree in physics from St. Mary’s College in Winona, MN in 1959 and his Ph.D. in physics from Michigan State University in 1963. This began a 50 year career teaching and working at the forefront of computational innovations in experimental, theoretical and analytical methods in molecular physics, astrophysics, medical physics, artificial intelligence, networks, pattern recognition and many other fields of science. In 1967, he joined the Molecular Spectroscopy research group at the University of Tennessee Knoxville and oversaw completion of the worlds first large computer controlled vacuum infrared spectrometer for the study of molecules of interest to planetary scientists. He built a digital data analysis system for analyzing spectra and was a pioneer in the study of computer deconvolution techniques to improve the resolution of images and data. He co-authored a book on the subject published in 1981 that became a standard for applications across many fields of science. Bill filled many roles within the University including Vice Director for Scientific Computing and held seats on the University Research Council and the Board of Trustees. Beginning in 1986, Bill worked summers at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland supporting the analysis of infrared molecular spectra collected by the Voyager, Galileo, and Cassini spacecraft as well as ground based telescopes. Bill became a NASA Summer Faculty Fellow and worked at Goddard as a continuing visiting scientist for 24 years. He worked with teams that resolved the spherical aberration issues with the Hubble Space Telescope mirror. He conducted spectral analysis at the Smithsonian of the “Star Spangled Banner” which guided the renovation work to restore the flag that inspired Francis Scott Keys to write our national anthem. Bill was a member of many professional scientific and educator societies including the American Physical Society, American Astronomical Society, Optical Society of America, Coblentz Society, IEEE, American Geophysical Society, American Association for Advancement of Science, American Association of University Professors, Sigma Pi Sigma (Physics Honor Society), Sigma Xi (Scientific Research Society) and many others. Bill leaves behind his wife of 31 years Betty Dixon Blass, his three children Stephen, Susan and Julia along with their families, three stepsons and their families, fourteen grandchildren and one great granddaughter and his brother and wife in Maine. While he was working at NASA Bill and Betty maintained a seasonal home at the Capital Yacht Club in Washington, DC where they were members for 15 years. Bill’s 70th birthday party in August 2007 on their boat ”Southern Comfort” at the Capital Yacht Club with their DC friends and his NASA colleagues was the event of the season. Over their 30+ years together Betty held many happy gatherings at their Knoxville home for Bill’s students, colleagues and their partners on holidays and graduations. Bill also leaves his former students who work as successful teachers, scientists, computer professionals and business people on every continent except Antarctica. It was a point of pride that none of his Ph.D. graduates “work selling shoes”. Bill was a mentor, friend, colleague and so much more. We all owe him a great debt of gratitude for how he supported and encouraged us in his uniquely individualistic way. He allowed all his students to find those areas that would inspire them for a lifetime and gave them the time to find that path. To his colleagues, “the wizard is out”, but the magic lives on. The family will begin receiving friends at 11:00 AM with a celebration of Bill’s life to follow at 1pm at Berry Highland Memorial, 5315 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919 on February 20 (2016). The body will be cremated. The family would like to recognize honorary pall bearers Freddie Dixon, Jamie Dixon, Mark Dixon, Cameron Dixon, Duane Wallin, Steve Daunt, Larry Senesac, and William Bugg. The family would like to thank Dr. Kim Emmett, Dr. John Acker, Dr. Steve Ryder and Amedisys Home Health Care and Amedisys Hospice for their care of Bill and Betty during his illness. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations should be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.