Thomas J. Parmley

Thomas J. Parmley
Born(1897-11-02)November 2, 1897
Scofield, Utah, U. S.
DiedSeptember 15, 1997(1997-09-15) (aged 99)
Salt Lake City, Utah, U. S.
Education
OccupationsPhysicist, professor
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1923; died 1980)​
Children3, including William

Thomas Jennison Parmley (November 2, 1897 – September 15, 1997)[1][2] was an American physics professor at the University of Utah and chairman of the physics department from 1957 to 1963.[3]

Biography

Parmley was born in Scofield, Utah to William and Mary Veal Parmley.[2][1] His father was killed in the Scofield Mine disaster in that town in 1900.[3] In 1921, he received his bachelor's degree from the University of Utah where he was a founding member of the Sigma Pi fraternity chapter.[4] While still being an undergraduate, he worked as a chemist for the U.S. Smeltering Company.[5] In 1923 he married LaVern W. Parmley[2] who served as general president of the Primary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).[3] He then earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1927.[6] Prior to joining the faculty of the University of Utah, Parmley was involved in cyclotron research at the University of California, Berkeley.[3] While there he was the lead author of the paper The Radioactives of some high-mass isotopes of Cobalt.[7]

Parmley was involved with the Atomic Energy Commission and the National Bureau of Standards.[8] He was a member of the American Institute of Physics.[6]

One of the main physics lecture halls at the University of Utah is named after him as is a scholarship.[9]

In 1996 he was named the university's Centennial Professor.[8]

Parmley's son William was a cardiologist and a leader in the LDS Church.[1]

References

  1. ^ abcDockstader, Julie (August 11, 1990). "'Life's worthwhile': Thomas J. Parmley". Church News. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  2. ^ abc"Utah Marriages, 1887-1935, Thomas Jennison Parmley and Martha Lavern Watts". Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.
  3. ^ abcd"Death: Dr. Thomas J. Parmley". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah. September 17, 1997. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  4. ^"History of Sphyinx Club of University of Utah"(PDF). The Emerald of Sigma Pi. Vol. 7, no. 2. July 1920. pp. 139–140. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017.
  5. ^"United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918". National Archives and Records Administration.
  6. ^ ab"United States National Register of Scientific and Technical Personnel Files, 1954-1970". National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
  7. ^Parmely, T. J.; Moyer, B. J.; Lilly, R. C. (February 1949). "The Radioactivities of Some High Mass Isotopes of Cobalt". Physical Review. 75 (4): 619–623. Bibcode:1949PhRv...75..619P. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.75.619.
  8. ^ ab"Adytum On High: Dr. Thomas J. Parmley"(PDF). The Emerald of Sigma Pi. Vol. 83, no. 3. Summer 1997. p. 23. Archived from the original on June 11, 2016.
  9. ^"Thomas J. Parmley Scholarship". University of Utah.
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