When Norman E. Barnett (B.S. Physics, 1944, M.S. Physics, ‘47) passed away at the age of 96, he left a legacy that extended to all corners of the University of Michigan community.

Barnett included bequests in his estate plan to the three colleges at U-M that were influential in his work and remained close to his heart during his 78 years in Ann Arbor. The gifts, made to the Department of Physics in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA), the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance (SMTD), will endow student support in each college.

Although he spent the bulk of his career as a professor in Taubman College, LSA’s Department of Physics was Barnett’s first intellectual home at Michigan. Beginning in fall 2020, the Norman and Mary E. Barnett Fellowship in Physics will support one outstanding graduate student in the Department of Physics each academic year.

Xiaoyu Guo, a second-year Ph.D. student in the physics department is the first fully funded Barnett Fellow.

Please read the remaining story, by Kristen Loszewski on the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts website.