GEORGE HAROLD GOEDECKE—1933 to 2024
Born in Boston, Massachusetts on February 4th, 1933, George Harold Goedecke passed away on October 5, 2024, in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, and graduated in 1954 with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and in 1961 with a Doctor of Philosophy in Physics.
Following graduation, George accepted a research and teaching position at New Mexico State University (NMSU) and moved with his wife Barbara to Las Cruces. He joined the physics faculty in September 1961 and in 1988 became head of the physics department until his retirement in 1995. From 1984 to 1986 he also served as the chair of the faculty senate.
George loved physics and was always positive and enthusiastic about his teaching. He and had a passion for helping students achieve their goal of earning a doctorate in physics. Over his career, he supervised 16 graduate students. As Professor Emeritus, George continued to teach classes, stayed very active in research, and continued to be engaged in the department including supporting assistant professors in the tenure and promotion process.
George had wide research interests including work in quantum mechanics, general relativity, electrodynamics, scattering, turbulence, and acoustics. His work has been referenced numerous times. His paper with S. G. O’Brien “Scattering by irregular inhomogeneous particles via the digitized Green’s function algorithm” has been referenced 279 times. He developed a new approach to the kinematic description of atmospheric turbulence known as quasi-wavelets (QWs). The QW approach has been adopted in the literature for modeling atmospheric turbulence in acoustics and other fields of physics.
In addition to his teaching and research at NMSU, George had grants from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and Army Research Office. Additionally, he held visiting, part-time, contracting, and consulting positions with several institutions such as the ARL and Raytheon Corporation.
While physics was his first love, music wasn’t far behind. He loved playing Dixieland jazz, first in the Yucca Flats Band but especially in the Creole Dixieland Band. On his clarinet he was a virtuoso. He also played soprano saxophone and would sing during performances. George considered himself a musician and regularly had “gigs” with the Creole Dixieland Band in the region. Many in the physics department remember him performing with an impromptu band of his friends during the “Spring Gala” for the physics students and singing blues with his uniquely recognizable husky voice.
George, along with his wife Barbara Bean Goedecke, was an avid skier, rock climber, hiker, and tennis player. In the Organ Mountains, he took part in many first ascends along with members of the “Southwestern Mountaineers”. Both George and Barbara loved rock climbing and hiking in the Organ Mountains and other mountain ranges throughout the western United States. They spent summers and vacations in Ruidoso, New Mexico where they hiked and skied including serving on the ski patrol at Sierra Blanca. While he and Barbara did not have children of their own, they cared deeply for their NMSU students and Edmund Ward whom they took under their wings when he was nine years old and just lost his father. They shared their outdoor adventures and wonderful love of music with him.
George and Barabara were connected by a strong bond and when Barbara passed away in January of 2023 George deeply missed her. George passed peacefully at 91 years old. His students, family, and friends already miss his warm, gruff conversation and quirky sense of humor.
A “Celebration of Life” service will be held at La Paz Graham’s Funeral Home on February 4th at 3:00pm. Donations in George and Barbara Goedecke’s name may be made through the NMSU Foundation to the George and Barbara Goedecke Physics Excellence Fund which provides scholarships for physics graduate students.
https://nmsufoundation.org/givenow/physics
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