Robert Burman

Robert L. “Bob” Burman

Robert L. Burman, 90, a retired Los Alamos National Laboratory physicist, passed away peacefully on October 11, 2023 at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Mr. Burman was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of the Honorable Henry L. Burman and Florence Burman. He attended Oak Park High School and received his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1955, where he fell in love with experimental physics and was on the board of the Voo Doo humor magazine. He enrolled as a physics student at the University of Illinois, Urbana, earning a Master of Science in Physics degree in 1957, and a doctorate in 1962, working on a seminal series of electron-neutrino geometry experiments. He then completed postdoctoral studies at what is now known as the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Following a teaching stint at the University of Rochester, Mr. Burman took a position as a nuclear and particle physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in 1967. His research focused on the nature of neutrinos, particularly as understood through pions and other meson particles, and he designed and built the LANL low-energy pion channel. He was inducted as an American Physical Society Fellow in 1977, in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of physics, and as a LANL Fellow in 1981, in recognition of sustained outstanding contributions and exceptional promise for continued professional achievement. 

A longtime resident of Santa Fe, Mr. Burman was a committed supporter of numerous arts organizations and could always be counted on for visits to local museums and tips on the best concerts and operas of the season. In the early 2000s, he was president of Santa Fe New Music. He also shared his love of the outdoors with his family on the slopes of the Santa Fe Ski Basin and on the trails of the Santa Fe National Forest. His one vice was chocolate of all kinds.

Mr. Burman is survived by his long-time partner, Rachel Belash, and his sons, Eric Burman (Erica) of Washington, DC, and Peter Burman (Alona) of Toronto, Canada; six grandchildren: Eugene, Christopher (Nicole), Abigail, Lydia, Moshe Zvi, and Sara Devorah; three great-grandchildren: Saul, Niels, and Hava; brother Harold (Sally); nieces Jenny, Jamie, and Julie; nephew Adlai; and Rachel’s four children (Eve, Claire, Guy, and Grace) and seven grandchildren (Emma, Zoe, Helena, Leo, Eliza, Addie, and Ivor); by whom he is lovingly remembered. He is predeceased by his son Niels (Jana) and brother Marshall (Susan). 

An interment in Santa Fe will be held at a later time. Donations in his honor may be made to the New Mexico Performing Arts Society or the Santa Fe Children’s Museum.