Virginia Brown

Virginia Ruth Brown died Feb. 8. She was 81.

Brown’s life work and passion was theoretical nuclear physics which led to a distinguished career that spanned more than 50 years, working at institutions including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, MIT, University of Maryland College Park, the National Science Foundation and physics research institutes in Germany and Italy. She held many leadership positions in the American Physical Society (APS) and served as secretary-treasurer of the APS division of nuclear physics from 1986-1995. She had a deep commitment to understanding nature and getting to the heart of things. Her enthusiasm and laughter were contagious. She will be deeply missed as a dear friend and an important member of the physics community.

Brown was predeceased by her mother, Ruth Young Doan and her father, George W. Brown III, as well as her brother, George W. (Bill) Brown IV. She is survived by her devoted life partner, Marley S. Weiss; her beloved first cousin Jacqueline (Brown) Spaight and David H. Brown, as well as many other loving relatives and friends.

Interment will be held at the Garden of Remembrance Memorial Park in Clarksburg, Maryland, Sunday, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m. A memorial service will be held that day at 3:30 p.m., at the Washington Ethical Society, 7750 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20012. Shiva will be observed at 7 p.m., Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evenings, Feb. 21 through 23 at the Weiss-Brown family residence. A second memorial service will be held in Cambridge, Massachusetts at MIT, at a date to be announced. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society - Hope Lodge, 636 W. Lexington Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, 410-547-2522.