In Memoriam: Senior Lecturer Emeritus Douglas W McColm
Douglas Woodruff McColm, Senior Lecturer Emeritus of physics, passed away January 13, 2026. He was 92.
Professor McColm's research spans both experimental and theoretical atomic physics. He worked on two projects.
An experiment to remeasure the electric dipole moment of the electron is in the design stage, in collaboration with scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and at the University of Colorado. The technique will use laser cooling and trapping of atoms, reaching temperatures in the milli-Kelvin range. The result of the experiment will be important to theorists in elementary particle physics because a very small electric dipole moment is predicted by some models but is not a feature of standard approaches.
A program of calculations of wave functions in light atoms is continuing with emphasis on non-variational methods of calculating the helium non-relativistic wave function using techniques that employ the standard theory of angular momentum. Non-variational approaches can be quite rigorous, and act as a guide to the quantum-mechanical effects present in atomic systems.
Experimental atomic physics
Molecular beam studies
Career History
- Ph.D. - Yale University, 1961
Honors
- NSF Predoctoral Fellowship
- Elected to Phi Beta Kappa
- Elected to Sigma Xi
- Member of American Physical Society
Davis Enterprise obituary:
https://www.davisenterprise.com/obituaries/douglas-mccolm/
Memories and Personal Stories of Douglas W McColm
- From Richard Scalettar
Doug was a big part of my first decade in the Physics department. When I undertook some duties for our graduate program, his advice and mentoring were incredibly wise and helped me a lot to do things right- (just do what Doug did!). He chaired the committee which established our Honors Physics program in 1997, a set of courses which has had a huge impact on our majors. Doug also very ably mentored students in an undergraduate research program with which I was involved.
Doug also stayed active post-retirement, both in teaching Atomic Physics, Chairing the committee distributing funds from the Cahill donation, to maintaining some Physics Demos. Our lab coordinator wrote to us: "Hello 9C instructors, Doug McColm has designed a nifty LRC circuit demo with several permutations to show to his classes. It is currently setup."
I will miss him as a great person and colleague.
- From Warren Pickett
Doug was indeed a gentle person, a very good man, and an excellent citizen of campus and community, as recounted in the obituary in the Davis Enterprise. Even while he was the main caregiver to his wife Delores who was housebound for some time (according to my memory), Doug would arrive at the office with his class prepared and a smile on his face.
One of my sons had Professor McColm for a PHY 9 class, and loved him as a professor. Particularly he was remembered for the times his classroom demo would not quite go right, and there would be some relevant and instructive discussion.
When Delores passed away, Doug began (or resumed) attendance at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, perhaps dividing his time with the Davis Friends Meeting as mentioned in the obituary.
- From Barry Klein
I am very saddened by the passing of Doug McColm. He was a kind, wise and gentle person who is remembered for his down-to-earth demeanor and devotion to family and our department. And, of course, his love of physics.
Doug was acting Chair when I joined the department in 1992. He was key to making my transition from the other world of a government laboratory and the culture of the east coast to Davis as smooth as it was. I greatly admired Doug and the other stalwarts of our department who laid the groundwork upon which we have grown and prospered. He was a mensch in every sense of the word and always reached out to me and others with friendship and support. His loving family and friends will always fondly remember this fine man.
- From Shirley Chiang
Doug was generous enough to give me his Physics 9C lecture notes before I taught the course for the first time that summer. They were very useful, because he is very organized and explains physics concepts clearly for the students.
His students wrote effusive comments for his nomination for the Distinguished Teaching Award, which he won in 2002.