Ohio University mourns the passing of Emeritus Professor Ronald Cappelletti

Emeritus Professor of Physics Ronald L. Cappelletti, a spirit of curiosity, inquiry and discovery, passed away on July 6, 2024. He is survived by siblings and four children.

Cappelletti was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1940. He graduated valedictorian from Fairfield University in 1962 with a degree in physics and mathematics, and in 1966 received a Ph.D. at the University of Illinois under Donald Ginsburg, studying the far infrared superconducting energy gap in Nb alloys.

Cappelletti joined the faculty of Ohio University in 1968. At OHIO, he initiated the undergraduate Physics Honors Tutorial program with David Onley, was an architect and first director of the university-wide Condensed Matter and Surface Sciences program and was mentor to 12 Ph.D. students. He also formed a lifelong friendship with a graduate student of the period, the Nobelist, Venki Ramakrishnan.

Cappelletti was a gifted experimentalist who elucidated Michael Thorpe's predicted floppy to rigid transition in Ge-Se glasses. He was a pioneer of the dynamics of solid C60, probed by inelastic neutron scattering. After retiring from Ohio University, he moved to the National Institute of Standards and Technology in 1999 and continued research on amorphous materials, disordered and glassy carbons, and on fundamental properties of neutrons until his retirement in 2014. He published his last paper in 2021, over the age of 80.

Cappelletti was a lifelong musician, and an avid student and promoter of Italian culture, history and language, and was President Emeritus of the Italian Cultural Society of Washington, D.C. He radiated a contagious curiosity and enthusiasm for deeper understanding across his vast range of interests. Cappelletti was a beloved friend, colleague, and mentor. 

Additional information about Cappelletti’s life can be found at this website.