[SPA] SPA SECTION NEWSLETTER, Volume XXVII, Issue 28

[Newsletter Editor]

AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION
SPA SECTION NEWSLETTER
Volume XXVII, Issue 28
May.13,2020

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Table of Contents

1. The Passing of Fred Hall IV

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Announcement Submission Website: http://goo.gl/forms/qjcm4dDr4g


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The Passing of Fred Hall IV

From: Karen Remick (kjoutflow2004 at yahoo.com)

It is with great sorrow that we, his friends and colleagues, announce the passing of Fred Hall IV. Fred died of a cardiac arrest on the night of April 21, 2020 at the age of 50 years old.

As a child, Fred survived deadly tornadoes that ripped through his neighborhood and destroyed his home in Xenia, Ohio. Fred got his BS at Ohio University, and his MS at the University of Colorado – Boulder. He obtained his PhD from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2006.  His gentle and friendly personality made him a central figure for the graduate student community in Fairbanks and he served as the graduate student representative for the GEM workshops for several years. In His PhD thesis research Fred showed that current sheet thinning occurs because of the evacuation of a ‘magnetic flux reservoir’ in the near-Earth magnetotail, caused by convection to replace magnetic flux that is eroded on the dayside by magnetic reconnection. His hypothesis is able to predict basic properties of current sheet thinning, such as the location, temporal evolution, and dynamics of this process.

After graduation Fred taught physics at a number of universities and was finishing up his first year of teaching at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, FL at the time of his passing. Fred was known for his attention to detail and lengthy, conversational prose, but most of all, he was known for his humor. Fred loved to talk and make people laugh. He gave us Geeksta Rap, with Run MHD, rewriting well known rap songs with physics lyrics, and giving us our very own Geeksta Rap Names (first and middle initial plus the subject of your thesis). He was also known for his great love of science fiction, in particular Star Trek. He dressed as the Vulcan Tuvok for Halloween and gave the Vulcan solute on stage during commencement ceremonies when he accepted his PhD diploma.

He could defuse tense situations with that humor, and always saw the best in people. Fred was honest and trustworthy, and made lifelong friends everywhere he went. The world is not as bright due to his passing.

Fred is survived by his sister Rose, and their parents, Pattie and Fred Hall III.


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SPA Newsletter Editorial Team: Peter Chi (Editor), Guan Le (Co-Editor), Sharon Uy, Marjorie Sowmendran, and Kevin Addison

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