In loving memory of our beloved father, Dr. James John Morgan, who passed away surrounded by family at his home in Altadena, CA on September 19, 2020, at the age of 88, from natural causes.
James “Jimmie” John Morgan, was born on June 23, 1932, in New York City, a child of hardworking Irish immigrant parents. His father, James “Jemmie” Morgan, and mother, Anna Treanor Morgan, moved back to the Homeland a year after his birth. He spent his early years as a farm boy in Knockballyroney, County Monaghan, Ireland, alongside his sister Anne who was born there. His family returned to New York City in 1938, where he attended parochial Catholic school in the Bronx. Later his family moved to Washington Heights, on the Upper East Side, where he attended P.S. 189 and later Cardinal Hayes High School. He had wanted to get a liberal arts education, studying history, but was not counseled that he needed to study a foreign language to do so. Thus serendipity steered his fate in another direction.
Blessed with a solid foundation in mathematics and science, James began an illustrious academic career, attending prestigious colleges and universities. He studied Civil Engineering at Manhattan College and the University of Michigan. While in Ann Arbor, MI, he met his lovely wife, fellow graduate student, Jean Laurie McIntosh, whom he married on June 15, 1957. Soon thereafter they started a family and he began teaching at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. James went on Harvard University, to work on his PhD with the renowned aquatic chemist Werner Stumm, whom he referred to as his “doctor father” and became a lifelong friend. While finishing his PhD, he took a job teaching at the University of Florida until 1965, when he was “discovered” by Caltech and offered tenure as a professor of Environmental Engineering. He moved his family to Pasadena, CA, where he and his wife Jean settled into a full and busy life with six children.
During his Caltech career, he was a “doctor father” to thirty-some PhD students. At age 34, Dr. Morgan became the inaugural editor of
Environmental Science and Technology, a position he held for eight years. He spearheaded groundbreaking work and research on acid rain in the Los Angeles Basin. In 1970, he and Werner Stumm published the classic text
Aquatic Chemistry (2d edition, 1981; 3d edition, 1996). In 1987, he was appointed Marvin L. Goldberger Professor of Environmental Engineering Science
. He served Caltech administratively both as Dean of Students and Vice President of Student Affairs. In addition to academic research and teaching, he worked as a consultant with several public and private agencies, including the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, to design water treatment plants, and Procter & Gamble, writing code in order to find forms of potentially hazardous compounds in water.
Dr. Morgan was recognized as one of the world’s most distinguished aquatic chemists. Over his 44-year career, he received many honors for his research, including the Stockholm Water Prize in 1999, sharing the honor with his colleague Dr. Stumm. The very same year he received the Clarke Prize for Water Science and Technology for his lifetime of research in water chemistry. In 2001, while being interviewed for the Caltech Archives about his life and career, Dr. Morgan expressed an interest in finding the origins of water itself. He quoted Saint Francis of Assisi, “Thanks be to God for our sister water who is humble and precious and pure.”
Jim was a Renaissance man, having varied and passionate interests in life. He held an affinity for basketball, playing from ages 15 to 65. He loved to play pickup games with family and friends, including on the half-court in his backyard. He was known to have a wicked jump shot and was very tough to guard! Also for years he played weekly tennis and softball with Caltech colleagues and graduate students. He was a lifelong reader of literature and poetry, having a special fondness for James Joyce and an early appreciation for the New York poet Frank O’Hara, whose epitaph read: “Grace to be born and live as variously as possible.” He was a lover of music of all kinds, melodies often emanating from his home office as he wrote his lectures or worked on research. Music was central to his enjoyment of life! He had the unique talent to whistle a tune on key and sing lyrics from old songs. Jim loved the Irish ‘Craic’ - good company and witty banter - traveling far and near to connect with old friends, fellow academics, and loved ones, making it many times to visit his sister Anne in New York and Irish kin in the Homeland.
James Morgan was preceded in death this past June by his beautiful wife, Jean Laurie McIntosh Morgan, and is survived by the legacy of his large family, firstly his six children: Jenny Tumas, Johanna Morgan, Eve Morgan Fletcher, Michael Joseph Morgan, Martha Morgan, and Sarah Morgan-Arnold. Also he is survived by his loving sister Anne Thompson, and his nieces Terri Thompson Mink and Dana Thompson Sullivan. He was affectionately known as Opa to his grandchildren Aistis, Aidan, Aelwyn, Zoe, Eliah, Sidra, Morgan, Avery, Emily, and Theo, and known as Great-Opa to Audra, Alden, and Betty. Our hearts are broken and he will live on in our memories forever.
A memorial service will be held at a later date when friends and family can gather safely.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to The Natural Resources Defense Council
https://www.nrdc.org/, the League of Conservation Voters
https://www.lcv.org/,
or the American Chemical Society
https://www.donate.acs.org/, which recognizes the contributions of early-career researchers through the James J. Morgan
ES&T Early Career Award.
