Dr. Robert H. Rohrer

Dr. Robert Harry Rohrer, professor emeritus of nuclear physics at Emory University, died Wednesday, December 12, 2007. Dr. Rohrer was born in West Philadelphia, Pa., on September 20, 1918. He graduated from Emory in 1938 after working his way through college by writing big band arrangements and playing cornet for the Emory Aces. Following graduation, he taught algebra to college students and physics to high school students at Emory at Oxford, then moved to the Emory University campus to teach electrical engineering, surveying and other subjects. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946, then returned to teaching at Emory. In 1954, he received a Ph.D. in nuclear physics from Duke University. He served as chairman of Emory's Physics Department for six years in the 1960s and received the Emory Williams Distinguished Teaching Award in 1973, Emory's Thomas Jefferson Award in 1978, and the Emory University Arts and Sciences Award of Distinction in 1998. Dr. Rohrer retired in 1983 but continued to teach at Emory until 1998. He also had served as vice president of the National Society of Nuclear Medicine and executive director of the society's Southeastern chapter; and as a consultant for Oak Ridge National Laboratories, the Georgia Department of Public Health, and the local VA Hospital's nuclear medicine program. Dr. Rohrer sang in choirs at Smoke Rise Baptist Church and, earlier, the Cathedral of St. Philip. He enjoyed improvising arrangements of popular songs at the piano and loved classical music as well. He was the widower of Gere Jenkins Rohrer and Ruth Manley Durden Rohrer. Survivors include his wife, Malbea Ann Britton Rohrer of Georgia; brother, E. Richard Rohrer of Tennessee; children, Bob Rohrer Jr. of Georgia, Martha Stroud and her husband, Bill, of South Carolina, Steve Rohrer of Georgia, and Katherine Rohrer and her husband, John Sully, of New Jersey; stepchildren, Tim Durden, Paul Durden and John Durden, all of Georgia, Ann Fowler of Florida, Mark D. Heilman of Montana, John T. Heilman of California, and Frederick H. Heilman, Malbea A. LaPete, Lauriat J. Heilman and Dawn M. Thackery, all of Georgia; grandchildren, William H. Stroud III and his wife, Amanda, Robert E. Stroud, and John D. Stroud and his wife, Joanna, all of South Carolina, and Clare Sully of New Jersey; and great-granddaughter, Catherine Gere Stroud of South Carolina. A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Monday, December 17, at Smoke Rise Baptist Church, followed by a reception with lunch. Memorial gifts can be sent to support Emory University, 1762 Clifton Road, Plaza 1000, Atlanta, GA 30322. A. S. Turner & Sons