92 Alameda

Willam R. Frazer, Senior Vice President, Emeritus of the University of California (UC) system and Professor of Physics Emeritus UC Berkeley, died in Oakland, CA on February 2, from complications related to pneumonia.

As Provost of the University of California’s nine-campus system from 1981 to 1991, Bill was responsible for oversight of the scientific programs of the Los Alamos, Livermore, and Berkeley National Laboratories.

His legacy includes two institutions he shepherded into being: the twin ten-meter Keck telescopes atop Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii; and the American University of Armenia in Yerevan, Armenia, founded in 1991, which recently established a professorship in his name.

Bill was a respected and beloved member of the scientific community in Aspen, Colorado, where he lived full-time from 2001-2021. He served on the Boards of Trustees of both the Aspen Center for Physics and the Aspen Science Center.

He began his academic career in 1960 as a member of the Department of Physics of the University of California, San Diego, where he conducted research and published extensively on the theory of the elementary particles.

He received a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, and an A.B. from Carleton College.

He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Jane, and his children Bruce and Katherine.

Donations in his name may be made to Carleton College or to the American University of Armenia.