Ari Brynjolfsson

Ari Brynjolfsson was born in Akureyri, Iceland, one of the seven children of Brynjólfur Sigtryggsson and Guðrún Rósinkarsdóttir[2] from Hörgárdalur.[3] He lived in Krossanes, Eyjafjörður[4] and graduated from Menntaskólinn á Akureyri in 1948,[5] then studied nuclear physics at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, from 1948 to 1954, gaining his PhD,[6] with a thesis which dealt with a device he had constructed for accurately measuring magnetism in rocks.[4] Following this he became a special research fellow of the University of Iceland from 1954 to 1955, then an Alexander von Humboldt fellow of the University of Göttingen, Germany, from 1955 to 1957.[6] While at Göttingen he contributed important work in magnetic moments, using a self-devised instrument with which he and others provided the strongest evidence to that date for magnetic field reversals.[7]

He became Head of Radiation Facilities for the Danish government at Risø (1957–1965) and then Head of US Army Radiation Facilities, Natick, Massachusetts[3][8] (1965–1980). He also served as the Director of IFFIT (International Facility for Food Irradiation Technology) of the Joint FAO/IAEA, United Nations (1988–1992).[9] He gained his DSc in 1973 with a thesis entitled Some Aspects of the Interactions of Fast Charged Particles with Matter which led to his work on plasma redshift.[10]

Many of his publications and much of his work centered around food irradiation and the development of radiation facilities around the world.[2][3] He received several awards including the Møller Foundation Award for exceptional service to Danish Industry, 1965 "Radiation Science and Technology Award of the American Nuclear Society", 1988[11][12] and was noted award recipient from U.S. Brigadier General Merrill L. Tribe in 1963.[13][14]

He died at the age of 86 in Tampa, FL on 28 June 2013, leaving a widow, five children and nineteen grandchildren.[6]