Lawrence Akers
Dr. Lawrence Keith Akers, who came to Chattanooga in 1986 as distinguished visiting professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Chattanooga, died at his North Chattanooga home Monday, August 22, 2016. He was 97.
He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Jane; four children: Keith (Kate), James (Sandy), Paul (Barbara) and Mariella; two granddaughters and two great-grandchildren.
Dr. Akers was born near Ashburn, Ga. He was the second of six children.
He joined the Navy the week after Pearl Harbor. He spent four years on the destroyer, the USS Patterson. The Patterson was in almost every major Pacific battle until the end of World War II. After the war, Dr. Akers took advantage of the GI Bill to study physics at the University of Georgia and went on for his Ph.D. at Vanderbilt University.
He was an avid bicyclist. Beginning in the 1960s, he rode to work every day. He was a great curiosity, the only commuting bicyclist on the road. His students at the Oak Ridge Institute for Nuclear Studies (ORINS) gave him an orange vest so that he would be more visible to motorists. Later, in Bethesda Maryland, he rode 20 miles a day through every kind of weather to work at the Department of Energy. A member of the Potomac Peddlers Bicycle Club, he rode 50,000 miles on his Fuji bicycle and wore it out.
His children remember him organizing a day of games on their birthdays. He always had a story or a joke to share, and he remained delighted by puzzles and puns throughout his life. He was a willing garden helper for his wife, trimming rose bushes, digging holes and putting up bird houses. In 1986, he told his wife that he would prepare breakfast every morning from then on, since she had done so since 1946.
In a career that spanned five decades, Dr. Akers was best known when he was at ORINS. As Chairman of the Special Training Division, he and his staff developed intensive short courses for physicians, scientists and engineers. In 1960, Dr. Akers took an 18-month leave to start up a Fellowship Program for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna Austria. This program awarded fellowships to participants from developing countries.
A member of many scientific societies, most notably the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and Sigma Xi, Dr. Akers received the Pegram Award for Excellence in Teaching from the American Physics Society’s Southern Section. He was given the Cavaliere Medal by the Italian government for his service to the IAEA during his time in Vienna, Austria.
Contributions may be made to the Jane and Lawrence Akers Physics Endowment Fund at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (Department 6806, University of Chattanooga Foundation, 615 McCallie Ave., Chattanooga, TN 37403) or to the First Baptist Church of Chattanooga (401 Gateway Ave., Chattanooga, TN 37402).
Funeral services will be at noon on Monday in the McEwen Chapel of First Baptist Church, interment will follow in Chattanooga National Cemetery with full military honors. Receiving of friends will be in the church parlor one hour before the services.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Lane Funeral Home, 601 Ashland Terrace, (423) 877-3524, www.lanefh.com.