Renowned physicist Fred Kavli died at age 86 last Thursday in his Santa Barbara home. The Norway native, philanthropist, and innovator funded research in theoretical psychics at UCSB, and after selling his company the Kavlico Corporation — which created products found in the SR-71 Blackbird and the Space Shuttle — he established the Kavli Foundation in 2000. The growing foundation supports research in nanoscience, neuroscience, and physics at 17 top universities worldwide; UCSB is home to one of his theoretical physics institutes. The Foundation has also facilitated collaboration within the scientific community that contributed to research such as President Obama’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative aimed at helping experts understand, treat, and prevent brain disorders.
