William Michael (Mike) Howard

William Michael (Mike) Howard died suddenly Saturday, April 13. He was 68.

Howard was a long-time LLNL scientist, whose work spanned many areas of chemistry and physics. He was born Jan. 22, 1945, in Philadelphia, Penn. He studied mathematical physics at Baylor University, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1967. He completed a Ph.D in nuclear astrophysics under Donald Clayton at Rice University in 1971.

Howard started his employment in the Physics Department at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1977 and remained an active employee until he died. He worked on energetic materials and high pressure chemistry in the Chemical Sciences Division, beginning in 1996. He made notable scientific contributions to nuclear astrophysics and high pressure chemistry.

He liked to say, "Chemistry was just like nuclear astrophysics, except that everything needed to be divided by 10 to the power 10." Howard's achievements in chemistry included the discovery of a new mechanism for methane production in the Earth's mantle. He developed new insight into energetic materials by simulating the ignition of micron-sized defects in energetic crystals with supercomputers. He published more than 60 papers.

Howard was a kind, funny and insightful person who was greatly appreciated by many of his coworkers. Outside of work, he was interested in robotics and swimming. He shared his scientific gifts with the community through active involvement in many regional science fairs.

Howard is survived by his wife, Magdalen; his son, Vincent; and his sister, Charlotte Grantier.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, Calif. Family viewing will be at the Chapel of Chimes at 9 a.m. Monday, April 22. Burial will be held at 11 a.m. at Queen of Heaven Cemetery, 1965 Reliez Valley Road, Layfayette, Calif.