Correction: In the original version of this article, Vahe Ghazikhanian’s was misspelled.
Charles “Chuck” Whitten, a longtime physics professor, died suddenly at his home on Saturday. He was 70.
Whitten was a 42-year veteran of the department who taught lower-division physics courses and participated in research and conferences across the globe. He also served as the physics graduate student adviser.
Despite his busy schedule, Whitten loved to teach undergraduate students and always made time to ensure that they understood the complex concepts he discussed in class.
As a result, Whitten’s office was often full of students who came to get extra help during office hours, or sometimes just to talk to the professor about personal matters.
“For Chuck, teaching was extremely important, even more important than research,” said Vahe Ghazikhanian, a UCLA alumnus and Whitten’s former student and colleague. “The enthusiasm he had for teaching, it was contagious.”
In addition to his friendly and energetic manner, Whitten was also known for his booming voice that echoed through the hallways and projected in any lecture hall.
“You never would have known he was a professor of science,” said James Rosenzweig, physics department chair. “He had fantastic entertaining gestures … and laughed all the time. He was a big, friendly, gregarious fellow who had a big heart.”
For the past 10 years, Whitten participated in research on the STAR Experiment, an international collaborative project in nuclear physics at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, said Huan Huang, a physics professor who worked with Whitten for 15 years.
Huang added that the professor made a huge impact on young people who worked with the researchers and served as a mentor to many of the international student collaborators.
Prior to his involvement with the STAR Experiment, Whitten traveled the world with his wife and son to participate in research at national laboratories in countries like France, Japan and Switzerland.
Since physics is an international field of study, the family frequently moved and eventually developed a global network of friends, said his wife, Joan Whitten.
“It was one of those things that neither Chuck nor I would realize was one of the most exciting by-products of physics,” Joan Whitten said of her family’s travel experiences.
When he was not abroad, Whitten continued to learn about his favorite subject by reading scientific journals at home, sometimes working out each problem discussed by the author for himself, Ghazikhanian said.
He also loved to discuss topics with his colleagues and would do so on a regular basis.
“Everyday he would pass by my office and discuss physics results and Chuck would get so excited about it,” said George Igo, a professor emeritus in the physics department. “It made my day almost every day.”
Whitten was a devoted UCLA football and basketball fan ““ he bought season tickets the very first year the family came to Los Angeles, Joan Whitten said.
This tradition would continue for the next 42 years and, as his family expanded, Whitten would invite his son and one of his grandchildren to attend games with him, she said.
When he could not attend games in person, Whitten would follow them on television and give words of encouragement.
“He’d scream at the TV and I’d say, ‘They can’t hear you, dear,’” Joan Whitten said, laughing.
But regardless of the venue, Whitten had to wear his signature UCLA hat, which was decorated with numerous pins from UCLA football games.
“He was so wrapped up in UCLA and the (physics) department,” Rosenzweig said.
Whitten was born on Jan. 20, 1940 in Harrisburg, Penn. He received his bachelor’s degree from Yale University and continued his doctorate studies at Princeton University. While at Princeton, Whitten met Joan after her father, who was a cyclotron technician at the university, brought him home for dinner. The couple bonded over their common interest in reading, travel and large cities, and was married in 1965.
After doing postdoctoral work at Yale, the Whittens came to UCLA in 1968. Their son Alec was born a few years later.
Whitten is survived by his wife, Joan; son, Alec; daughter-in-law, Jennifer; and grandchildren Branwen and Calder.
The physics department is hosting a memorial service for Whitten at the UCLA Faculty Center Friday at 3:30 p.m. An online guestbook is also available for former students and friends to leave messages. It can be accessed at http://personnel.physics.ucla.edu/directory/faculty/whitten.