Ron Ruby

Ron Ruby was a founding member of the Physics Department at UC Santa Cruz (then called the Physics Board). His doctorate was from UC Berkeley, working on magnetic resonance phenomena. Subsequently, while teaching in the UC Berkeley Physics Department, he worked on photosynthesis under Nobel Laureate Melvin Calvin, devising research equipment to observe the optical spectra associated with the process. His talent for designing and building appropriate apparatus became a hallmark of his career, not only in his research, but also in his teaching, and indeed in his everyday life.

At UCSC, which he joined in 1965, he was deeply involved in undergraduate teaching, especially in the laboratories. He wrote a primer for one of the upper division lab courses that was used for many years. Several of the experiments in these courses were designed and set up by him. He also initiated an electronics lab course. 

A typical experiment he set up used a hacksaw blade that was clamped at one end to demonstrate oscillatory behavior, with a flashlight bulb and photocell to measure the oscillations. Later, the apparatus surprised its inventor by displaying nonlinear behavior which helped stimulate the interest in chaos theory in the UC Santa Cruz Physics Department.

At the administrative level, he chaired the Physics Board and the Academic Senate, and served as Associate Dean for the Division of Natural Sciences.

He was keenly interested in sports, serving as the first coach for the UCSC rugby team. He was also involved in cycling, sailing and rowing, and Nordic skiing which he picked up when visiting Norway. For the last of these, he displayed his characteristic ingenuity with equipment by designing and building special skis which he used to practice on Empire Grade. The Ron Ruby Award was established by his family.