Robert Lin

Robert Peichung Lin (Chinese: 林伯中; pinyin: Lín Bózhōng; January 24, 1942 – November 17, 2012) was Chinese-born American physicist. He was a professor and director of the Space Sciences Laboratory (1998-2008) at the University of California, Berkeley. He was credited with inventing the field of high energy space physics and was the Principal Investigator for the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI).[1]

Lin's research focused on experimental space physics and high energy astrophysics. He made major contributions to topics involving solar flares, plasma phenomena in the Earth's magnetosphere, lunar and planetary geology, heliospheric physics, and high-energy astrophysics. In 2006, Lin was elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his contributions to the "behavior of electrons and ions accelerated by the sun, and detected the accompanying x-ray and gamma-ray emissions."[2]

Robert Lin was the son of Tung Hua Lin. He was born in Guangxi, China on January 24, 1942, and moved to London as a child and then to Michigan, United States. He graduated with a B.S. from the California Institute of Technology in 1962, and obtained his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in 1967.[1]

Lin suffered a sudden stroke on November 17, 2012, and died at Alta Bates Medical Center, aged 70.[1]