Kent R. Wilson; Pioneering Chemistry Expert

Kent R. Wilson, 63, a UC San Diego chemistry professor who programmed computers to create laser-induced chemical reactions. In the late 1960s, Wilson spearheaded development of photo fragment spectroscopy techniques permitting the probe of unstable states of molecules. In the 1970s, he used laser spectroscopy to examine the chemistry of atmospheric pollution. In the 1980s, he combined ultra-fast laser experiments with computer simulations to develop an understanding of how reactions occur in solution. Most recently, he led an effort to use ultra-fast beams of X-rays to examine and manipulate chemistry. Brought up in the Quaker community of Bryn Gweled Homesteads, Pa., Wilson experimented with science as a child by tearing apart and reassembling household appliances and even rewiring the town’s phone system. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Harvard and a doctorate at UC Berkeley. He had been on the UC San Diego faculty since 1965. As a teacher, Wilson helped illuminate scientific principles with films and visualization techniques. His students helped develop computer programming that evolved into what is now called virtual reality. In his private life, he worked to preserve parts of Torrey Pines State Park. On March 27 in Del Mar, Calif., of prostate cancer.