Jan. 18, 2023

The University mourns the passing of Professor Emeritus Surendra Singh Malik, a former chair of the Physics Department and professor who taught at URI for over five decades. Surendra, 92, died Jan. 13 at his Kingston home, surrounded by his family.

Surendra was born in Kheri Patti, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India, and immigrated to the U.S. after completing his Ph.D. in nuclear physics at Agra University in India. He was a professor at Ohio University and conducted research at Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago, before joining URI in 1960.

At URI, Surendra taught undergraduate and graduate students for 56 years. At the time of his retirement, he was the longest serving faculty member at the University, said Leonard Kahn, the current chair of the Physics Department. Surendra served multiple terms as department chair, helped develop the neutron physics program at URI, and oversaw the growth and modernization of the department.

“His dedication to the department was only exceeded by his love for his family and his caring wife, Marlene,” Kahn said. “At his retirement party, he had numerous former students come from around the country to pay tribute to their beloved advisor.”

Throughout his career, Surendra conducted research at Brookhaven National Laboratories on Long Island, and at the High-Flux Research Reactor of the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France, and published research well into his 80s.

A celebration of Surendra’s life is planned for July 6 at 4 p.m. at The Towers, 35 Ocean Road, Narragansett. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hope Hospice & Palliative Care, 1085 North Main St., Providence, RI 02904 or online.

To read the complete obituary, click here.