Roy A. Axford (1928-2021) | University of Illinois Archives

Roy A. Axford (1928-2021) was an associate professor of nuclear engineering (1966-68), professor of nuclear engineering (1968-2017) and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois. His students recognized him for his teaching ability, and he received many teaching awards from the university.

Roy A. Axford was born August 26, 1928, in Detroit, Michigan, to Charlotte Donaldson Paulson and Roy Paulson. He was later adopted by his stepfather, Morgan Axford. Roy A. Axford received a BA in Physics from Williams College and an SB in General Science from MIT in 1952. He received an SM in Nuclear Engineering from MIT in 1955. Axford received the First Doctorate in Nuclear Engineering awarded by MIT in 1958.

Roy A. Axford worked as a nuclear engineer at Technical Research Group (New York, 1958) and as a supervisor for Theoretical Physics Group, Atomics International (Canoga Park, California, 1958-1960). Axford started his academic career as an associate professor of nuclear engineering (1960-1962) and professor of nuclear engineering (1962-1963) at Texas A&M University and associate professor of nuclear engineering at Northwestern University (1963-1966) before joining the University of Illinois in 1966.

Roy A. Axford’s many teaching awards at the University of Illinois included the Everitt Award for Teaching Excellence, College of Engineering (1985), Graduate College Outstanding Mentor Award, University of Illinois (2004), Student Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, College of Engineering (2004),  Rose Award for Teaching Excellence, College of Engineering (2008), Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2010), College of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award (2010), Illinois Student Senate Teaching Excellence Award (2011), University of Illinois Graduate and Professional Teaching Award (2011), and ANS at Illinois Student Chapter Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award (1990, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2008, 2016). In addition, Axford was honored by Alpha Nu Sigma Society, Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, and Phi Kappa Phi.

During his 51 years of teaching at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Roy A. Axford mentored 54 doctoral and numerous master’s degrees, advised students, served on many university committees, and received multiple teaching honors, as noted above. The courses taught by Roy A. Axford included NPRE 446 - Radiation Interact w/Matter I, NPRE 447 - Radiation Interact w/Matter II, NPRE 498 - Theoretical Plasma Physics, NPRE 521 - Interact of Radiation w/Matter, NPRE 555 - Reactor Theory I, and NPRE 556 - Reactor Theory II.

Roy A. Axford’s service on University Committees included being a Dean W. Schowalter's Forward Planning Committee member from 1993 to 1997. Service on Department Committees included Secretary for the Nuclear Engineering Executive Committee and Chairman for the Nuclear Engineering Committees that follow: Nuclear Engineering Affirmative Action Officer, 1984-87, 1991-2017, Nuclear Engineering Faculty and T.A. Development, Nuclear Engineering Admissions Committee and Honors & Awards Committee, and Nuclear Engineering Advisory Committee. Service on College Committees included College of Engineering Engr.-Math Liaison Committee, Chairman, 1993-1996, 1999-2001; College of Engineering Coop Advisory Committee; College of Engineering Honors Council, Chairman, 1992-1996; College of Engineering Executive Committee, 1997-2003. Scholarships established in Roy A. Axford’s name included the MIT Roy A. Axford Award and the Roy A. Axford Fellowship at the University of Illinois.

Roy A. Axford’s research areas included Multi-Physics Modeling and Simulation, Nuclear Power, Reactor Analysis Methods, Reactor Physics, and Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics. Other research interests included Mathematical Systems Theory, Hydrodynamic Stability, Optimal Nuclear Fuel Management, Optimal Synthesis of Reactor Physics and Reactor Thermal Design, Nuclear Reactor Thermal Analysis, Thermal and Fast Reactor Physics, and Application of the Lie Theory of Local Transformation Groups to the Solution of Linear and Nonlinear Systems of Differential Equations that arise in Engineering Science, Theoretical Physics and Applied Mathematics.

Roy A. Axford’s major consulting activities included Advisory Editor, Nuclear Science and Engineering, 1989-1997; Member, External Advisory Board, Defense Research Review, 1986-2004; X-Division Panel for Review of Nuclear Weapons and Inertial Confinement Fusion Codes, 1980 (Classified); Chairman, Albino Consultants Panel, 1977 (Classified). Most notably, for 44 summers, from 1963-2007, Roy A. Axford was a consultant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), X-Division, Theoretical and Computational Physics in Los Alamos, N.M. His work at Los Alamos included numerous reports for LANL, currently held at the LANL Research Library. Many of Roy A. Axford’s former students have been employed at LANL and Sandia National Laboratories, holding him in high esteem.

Roy A. Axford’s memberships in professional societies included the American Nuclear Society, to which he was named a fellow in 2018 “for dedicating over 50 years to the pursuit of teaching excellence, for molding two generations of leaders in nuclear engineering education and research, and for instilling in his students the technical knowledge, ethical fortitude, and social responsibility necessary for developing and maintaining this country’s national nuclear security operations.” Other professional society memberships included the Program Committee of Mathematics and Computation Division (1980-1990), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a Life Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Publications by Roy A. Axford included the book chapter “Summary of Theoretical Aspects of Heat Transfer Performance in Clustered Rod Geometries," one of five invited chapters that appeared in the ASME Symposium Book entitled, "Heat Transfer in Rod Bundles," 70-103 (December 1968). A summary of this invited paper was also presented orally at the Winter Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York, in December 1968.

Selected articles in journals included Ramsey, S. D., and R. A. Axford, "A Sensitivity Analysis of Nuclear Assembly Extinction Probabilities: Application to Reevaluated Fission Multiplicity Data," Nuclear Sci and Engineering, v 166, n 1, p 48-57 (2010). Ramsey, S. D., Axford, R. A. and G. J. Hutchens, "A Semianalytical Analysis of Transient Supercritical Assembly Extinction Probabilities," Nuclear Sci and Engineering, v 166, n 1, p 73-81 (2010). Axford, R. A., Short, S., Shchupak, P. and M. Nasir, "Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) Earth Terminal Interoperability Demonstrations," Proceedings – IEEE Military Communications Conference MILCOM - MILCOM 2008 – Assuring Mission Success (2008). Axford, R.A., “Notes on Methods for Deriving Green’s Functions for the Klein- Gordon Operator,” DOE Research and Development Report, LA-14164, 1-44, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Springfield, Virginia (2004). Axford, R.A., “Solutions of the NoH Problem for Various Equations of State Using Lie Groups,” Laser and Particle Beams, 18, 93-100 (2000).

Articles in conference proceedings included Axford, R.A., “Lie Group Symmetry Properties of the Besnard-Harlow-Rawenzahn-Zemach Spectral Turbulence Transport Model,” Proc. JOWOG Conf., (Los Alamos, NM, July 1996), 1-14 (1996). Axford, R.A., “Group Theory of Invariant Flux and Slope Limiters,” Proc. NECDC Conf., 1-14 (San Diego, CA, October 1996). Reports included Axford, R.A. "Two-Dimensional Diverging Shocks in a Non-Uniform Medium," DOE Research and Development Report, LA-13498, 1-8, U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Springfield, Virginia (1998). Axford, R.A., "Solutions of the NOH Problem for Various Equations of State Using LIE Groups," DOE Research and Development Report, LA-13497, 1-17, U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Springfield, Virginia (1998). Axford, R.A., "Construction of Difference Equations Using LIE Groups," DOE Research and Development Report, LA-13499, 1-71, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Springfield, Virginia (1998). Journal Editorships included External Advisory Board Member, Defense Research Review, 1986-2004, and Advisory Editor, Nuclear Science and Engineering, 1989-1997.

Roy A. Axford died in Urbana, Illinois, on March 10, 2021, at age 92. After his passing, his three children, Roy, Elizabeth, and Trevor, donated 235 boxes of engineering, science, and math books, including over 3,000 volumes, to the Grainger Engineering Library at the University of Illinois. Over half of these books were added to the library collection, and the remainder were set on tables for students to take as an homage to his teaching legacy and generous spirit.

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