Niel Kay Madsen

Niel Kay Madsen

Niel Kay Madsen died July 4. He was 81.

Madsen was the second of five children born to Farrell and Margaret Madsen. He attended Chico State University and graduated summa cum laude with a double bachelor’s degree in math and physics. He later began graduate school at the University of Maryland and spent summers working at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In 1968, he obtained his Ph.D. in mathematics with a minor in nuclear engineering and then relocated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While in Pittsburgh, he worked at Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory designing nuclear submarine engines for the US Navy and taught mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University. He moved to Livermore in 1972, where he worked more than 40 years at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) before retiring in 2005 and returning for several more years as a contractor. While at LLNL, he took on many managerial roles, spent a year at NASA Langley in Virginia (1977), worked on countless projects,and published many papers.

He is survived by his wife, Florence, five children: Scott Madsen (Alyson), Laura Belnap (Dan), Aly Morrison (Jeff), Amy Herrmann (Sean), and Leslie Mueller (Pieter), 21 (soon to be 22) grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, siblings Marilyn Hutchings (David) and Dale Madsen (JoAnne), and sister-in-law Ella Madsen. Preceded in death by his parents, brothers Dean and Kent Madsen, and sister-in-law Susan Madsen.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on July 12 at 1501 Hillcrest Avenue, Livermore, with a viewing from 9:30-10:30 a.m. preceding the service. Burial to follow at Roselawn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the UCSF Liver Transplant Fund (B1503) in his memory .