Douglas Cline

Douglas Cline died peacefully on June 20, 2025 surrounded by his family. Doug was born August 28, 1934 and raised in York, England. He was the first person in his family to attend university and received a B.Sc.1st Class Honours in Physics in 1957 and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics in 1963 both from the University of Manchester, England. Following this, he accepted a research associate position at the University of Rochester in New York. Doug decided to settle in Rochester to help build and use the most powerful DC accelerator for nuclear physics at the time. He rose through the ranks to Professor of Physics as well as being Director of the Nuclear Structure Research Laboratory (NRSL). He received the Marian Smoluchowski Medal from the Polish Physical Society in
2013 – this is the highest distinction awarded by the organization and is an international award for significant achievements in the field of physics.

Doug was an incredibly dedicated professor. He taught undergraduate and graduate physics courses from 1965 to 2015 and received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Department of Physics and Astronomy in 2007 and 2009. He published more than 250 peer reviewed articles and his book “Variational Principles in Classical Mechanics” is still used and downloaded by
university classes around the world.

Outside of work, Doug shared his love of canoeing, running, camping, cycling, skiing and soaring with his family. Doug was also an accomplished classical pianist.

Doug is survived by his wife Lorraine Van Meter-Cline, his two children Julia Cline (Stephen Kelly) and Geoffrey Cline (Delaram Davari). His three grandchildren are Stanley Kelly, Amelia Kelly, and Golnar Cline.

All are welcome to celebrate Doug’s life on September 13, 2025 from 14:00 (2pm) at Vista Del Monte, Main Lounge (3775 Modoc Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93105).

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (rpo.org).