R.I.P., Al
Mar. 21st, 2007 11:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thisearthlyrideNoted scientist was father of Joan Baez and Mimi Farina
Paul Liberatore
Marin Independent Journal
Albert V. Baez, a noted physicist who was the father of folksingers Joan Baez and the late Mimi Farina, died of natural causes early Tuesday in Redwood City. He was 94.
Paul Liberatore
Marin Independent Journal
Albert V. Baez, a noted physicist who was the father of folksingers Joan Baez and the late Mimi Farina, died of natural causes early Tuesday in Redwood City. He was 94.
A resident of Marin's Greenbrae Boardwalk for 25 years, Dr. Baez died in an elder care facility where he lived for three years.
"Whether known as 'professor,' 'Al,' 'Abo' or 'Popsy,' he was known above all as a warm and gentle person," Joan, who is performing in Europe, and the Baez family said in a statement. "In all aspects of his life, he combined personal and professional roles as scientist, environmentalist, teacher and humanitarian. In doing so, he nurtured and conveyed values representing mankind at its best."
Born in Puebla, Mexico, and reared in Brooklyn, Dr. Baez served as president of Vivamos Mejor (Better Living), an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life through science-based education and community development projects in Mexico.
A distinguished academic with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Drew University, a master's in math from Syracuse University and a doctorate in physics from Stanford University, he taught physics at Drew, Harvard, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Redlands and Stanford, among others.
While a doctoral student at Stanford, he co-invented the X-ray reflection microscope, which is still used for medical purposes and to take X-ray pictures of galaxies.
In 1951, he worked for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), moving with his family to Iraq, where he was director of the UNESCO mission there and a professor of physics at Baghdad University. While stationed in Paris for UNESCO, he served as director of science teaching from 1961-67, creating teaching programs for high school-level students in physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics. He collaborated on more than 100 science films for the Encyclopedia Brittanica Educational Corp.
Dr. Baez, a Quaker, was active in Marin in the Bilateral Nuclear Weapons Freeze and was an active supporter of Bread & Roses, the Corte Madera-based nonprofit that brings free live entertainment to hospitals, youth facilities, prisons and other institutions. It was founded by his daughter Mimi, who died of cancer in 2001.
In the 1980s, he served as chairman of the Commission on Education for the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. In addition to Joan Baez, he is survived by his wife, Joan Bridge Baez, of Woodside; a daughter, Pauline Bryan of Carmel Valley; grandsons Gabriel Harris of Fairfax and Nick Marden of New York City; granddaughter Pearl Bryan of Big
Sur; and great-granddaughter Jasmine Harris of Fairfax.
A Quaker memorial celebration of his life is being planned for the first weekend in May.
Paul Liberatore can be reached at liberatore@marinij.com
"Whether known as 'professor,' 'Al,' 'Abo' or 'Popsy,' he was known above all as a warm and gentle person," Joan, who is performing in Europe, and the Baez family said in a statement. "In all aspects of his life, he combined personal and professional roles as scientist, environmentalist, teacher and humanitarian. In doing so, he nurtured and conveyed values representing mankind at its best."
Born in Puebla, Mexico, and reared in Brooklyn, Dr. Baez served as president of Vivamos Mejor (Better Living), an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life through science-based education and community development projects in Mexico.
A distinguished academic with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Drew University, a master's in math from Syracuse University and a doctorate in physics from Stanford University, he taught physics at Drew, Harvard, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Redlands and Stanford, among others.
While a doctoral student at Stanford, he co-invented the X-ray reflection microscope, which is still used for medical purposes and to take X-ray pictures of galaxies.
In 1951, he worked for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), moving with his family to Iraq, where he was director of the UNESCO mission there and a professor of physics at Baghdad University. While stationed in Paris for UNESCO, he served as director of science teaching from 1961-67, creating teaching programs for high school-level students in physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics. He collaborated on more than 100 science films for the Encyclopedia Brittanica Educational Corp.
Dr. Baez, a Quaker, was active in Marin in the Bilateral Nuclear Weapons Freeze and was an active supporter of Bread & Roses, the Corte Madera-based nonprofit that brings free live entertainment to hospitals, youth facilities, prisons and other institutions. It was founded by his daughter Mimi, who died of cancer in 2001.
In the 1980s, he served as chairman of the Commission on Education for the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. In addition to Joan Baez, he is survived by his wife, Joan Bridge Baez, of Woodside; a daughter, Pauline Bryan of Carmel Valley; grandsons Gabriel Harris of Fairfax and Nick Marden of New York City; granddaughter Pearl Bryan of Big
Sur; and great-granddaughter Jasmine Harris of Fairfax.
A Quaker memorial celebration of his life is being planned for the first weekend in May.
Paul Liberatore can be reached at liberatore@marinij.com
