In memorian : Stig Lundqvist
 
 
 
 

   Professor Emeritus Stig Olof Lundqvist passed away on April, at the age of 74. He is remembered by his 3 children, his sister, and many friends, relatives and colleagues worldwide.
   Stig was born on August 9, 1925 to a family of teachers in the town of Gudmundrå near Kramfors in northern Sweden. He graduated from high school in Härnösand in 1945 and 3 years later received his Bachelors degree(fil kand) in Uppsala, where he continued graduate studies in theoretical physics. He became a student of Professor Ivar Waller, a pionner in condensed matter theory who also founded modern condensed matter physics in Sweden. Stig's Ph.D dissertation in 1955 covered the properties of ionic crystals. After a post-doc period in Uppsala, Stig moved to Gothenburg in 1961 as professor of theoretical physics at Chalmers University of Technology. He was active there until his retirement in 1990.
   During his student years in 1942-55, Stig earned his living as a jazz musician. He played trumpet and piano with a number of well known Swedish musicians, incl. Åke "Stan" Hasselgård. Music continued to be an important part of Stig's life, he had a broad interest and enthusiasm for all types of music, enjoying not only classical music but jazz such as Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter. This includes even a big band tribute that was organized for him on his 70th birthday celebration, coinciding with a symposium on "Contemporary Concepts in Condensed Matter Physics" in Gothenburg. Many of Stig's colleagues and friends attended and in spite of his increasing physical difficulties, Stig participated with enthusiasm and spirit.
   As a teacher, Stig Lundqvist had a special gift for inspiring students, many of whom became his scientific collaborators. He also gave inspiration to others, including colleagues. In his research group Stig created a pleasent and lively international environment which encouraged Ph.D students to take a great deal of responsability for their own research, one model to follow.
   Stig played an important role in the rapid development of modern condensed matter physics, not only in Sweden but internationally as well. Soon after his arrival at Chalmers he raised a number of eyebrows by presenting the administration with extensive travel bills for international guests. But his style prevailed and he eventually created an extensive international network, and himself became an "ambassador" for the local physics(e.g, "the Swedish Electron Gas") and for research as such. Stig's commitment to physics at the international level has been matched by few. He was a regular visitor and member at the board at NORDITA. He played a key role at the Abdus Salam Centre for Theoretical Physics at Trieste(ICTP)where he spent several months from every year 1967 until 1995 when his health no longer permitted him to travel. He was chairman of the scientific committee at ICTP between 1983 and 1992 and largely responsible for the development of the condensed matter program at ICTP. He arranged the "Adriatico Research Conferences" where promising researchers from less developed countries had the opportunity to meet international  leaders in physics in a interactive setting.  ICTP has honored his contributions by giving him the Dirac medal and last year initiated a series of conferences in Stig's honor, starting with  "The First Stig Lunqvist Research Conference on the Advancing Frontiers in Condensed Matter Physics".
   Stig Lundqvist was a member of the Nobel Prize Committee for physics from 1971 to 1985 and chairman from 1980-1985, another task that he devoted himself to wholeheartedly. It is a tribute to him that some of the prizes awarded during these years which now seem natural and worthy were in fact difficult and controversial desicions at the time.
   In Gothenburg, Stig had a key role in building up modern condensed matter at Chalmers and Gothenburg University. The direction of this research was at the time unique in Sweden, and ultimately, to a large extent through Stig's efforts, there is now in Gothenburg a condensed matter research unmatched in its scope anywhere else in Sweden. His efforts on behalf of Chalmers academic leadership was acknowledged in 1990 when he received the Chalmers medal. In addition to these activities, he has consultant at FOA, the Swedish Defense Research Agency, at AB Atomenergy 1953-1965, he was member of the Swedish Natural Science Research Council(NFR) 1967-1974, the Swedish Engineering Society(IVA) and the Royal Swedish Academy since 1976. He was a member of the board of the condensed matter section of the European Physical Society, and has been a fellow of the American Physical Society. In particular, the NFR commitment, where he was chairman during the later half of the period, put a great strain on him and his health, as it involved a lot of work and traveling during an extensive restructuring of Swedish physics. He has been visiting researchers and fellows in Philadelphia, San Diego, Florida, New York, Santa Barbara, Brookhaven, Madrid, Trieste, and member of the editorial board of a number of international journals. Althought many physicist know of Stig Lunqvist primarily through his role as physics "statesman", Stig's own work was published in more than a hundred articles. His contributions to Solid State Physics, vol 23 became a "bible" in his own field.
   Although Stig retained his "joi-de-vivre" throughout his life, he was deeply affected by the loss of his wife Eva in 1981. His diabetes became worse and eventually in the early 1990's his declining health forced him to cut back most of his activitiy that has characterized his professional life.
   In an NFR evaluation of Swedish physics, one can read that Stig Lundqvist "has had an effect on Swedish condensed matter physics research tath is so positive, it cannot be quantified". Those of us who had the fortune first hand experience his intellect and personal integrity can only agree. Stig Lundqvist's passing is a great loss to us and the physics community.

Gothenburg; April 19, 2000.
 

Peter Apell
Tord Claeson
Göran Grimvall
Lars Hedin
Mats Jonson
Bengt Lundqvist
Yvonne Steen
Göran Wendin
Stellan Östlund