Howard Allen Scott
Dec. 9, 1954-Nov. 25, 2024
Pleasanton, California
Submitted by Elizabeth Sufit
Howard died a few weeks shy of his 70th birthday, with his family by his side, from complications arising from the 4th heart surgery of his life. He had still been working actively in multiple fields of physics at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, from atomic physics to hydrodynamics and radiative properties.
Howard was born to Harold and Naomi Scott, and raised in Cleveland, OH, one of 4 brothers. He graduated in 1975 from Dartmouth College, majoring in math and physics, and was awarded Phi Beta Kappa membership. In addition, Howard was a talented bassoonist, studying for a term at the Austro-American Institute. A member of Phi Tau fraternity, he maintained life-long connections with friends there. He thoroughly enjoyed his college life; in extracurricular activities, he excelled as a bridge player and became an avid backpacker and skier.
As a recipient of the prestigious Churchill Scholarship, he studied astrophysics for one year at Cambridge University, before his graduate program at Cornell University. Howard received his PhD degree in astrophysics in 1982. It was at Cornell that Howard met Elizabeth (Liz) Sufit. They quickly became partners in backpacking, folk dancing, and most importantly, in life.
Howard worked at Sandia National Laboratory from 1982 to 1984, in the Inertial Confinement Fusion program, then spent 2 years doing research and teaching at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He continued his research career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1986. Initially, he worked on X-Ray Laser computer simulations for the Strategic Defence Initiative program. He expanded his field into the computational & numerical multi-physics field, developing his code to investigate and model atomic and high energy systems. This code has become one of the cornerstones to the National Ignition Facility. He authored or co-authored over 100 refereed articles and multiple book chapters. Co-workers knew that Howard kept an “open door” for questions, and appreciated his collaboration and mentorship with scientists of different generations, his responsiveness, his brilliant mind, and calm demeanor.
Deeply in love, Howard and Liz married in 1983, while she obtained a DVM degree at VPI. They settled in Pleasanton in 1986, and continued hiking, dancing, and exploring California. They raised 2 children - Hannah (1992) and Samuel (1995). Howard was a deeply loving, endlessly patient parent who was always ready to have fun, and was a consummate “dad joke” teller. They developed a close knit family of friends, joining together for camping trips, music nights, and delightful social gatherings. Everyone enjoyed his quiet, steadfast, and warm personality, as well as his wry, understated humor, his ability to thoughtfully listen and converse, and his willingness to help out, whether for kids’ homework or a house project. He was also known for his cooking, particularly baking (lemons squares and various chocolate delicacies), and for his continual penchant for wearing graphic Tees (usually designed with animals, fun science, or celtic patterns).
Howard traveled frequently for scientific conferences and collaborations with researchers across the globe. Liz was fortunate to join him on some of those trips in the US and Europe. Howard and Liz had some “non-physics” journeys on their own, as well as joining friends on trips both local and far away. Vacations over the years with the Scott and Sufit extended families were always treasured. Howard was a loyal and loving brother, brother-in-law, and uncle. Trips to places in the Caribbean, Mexico and the Eastern seaboard provided wonderful experiences - beach combing, swimming, and snorkeling. The seaside trips were balanced by explorations of mountain areas: the Sierras, the Rocky Mountains from Montana to New Mexico, and up to the Canadian Rockies. Howard felt especially at home in the midst of the beauty of wilderness. Two of Howard and Liz’s recent bucket list vacations were a wintertime tour of Yellowstone National Park and a land/sea excursion to Alaska.
Howard, Liz and their children have been active members and volunteers at Congregation Beth Emek, the local Reform Judaism synagogue. The congregation has been like family to them, and they have devoted many hours to programs there.
In his final weeks, Howard was under the care of the Stanford University hospital ICU/cardiac surgery teams. The family deeply appreciates the compassionate and dedicated nurses, doctors, and staff there. He was truly in the best possible place for the efforts to get him through the incredibly difficult medical challenges. They treated Howard and the entire family with respect and great kindness.
Howard is survived by wife Liz, daughter Hannah, and son Samuel. Howard was predeceased by his parents, older brother Bennett, and is survived by Bennett’s wife Debbie Scott, his brothers Ronald Scott (Ina Loobeek) and Larry Scott; brothers- and sisters-in-law Robert Sufit, (Diane Wood), Carl Sufit (Beth), Susan Sufit, and his much-loved nieces and nephews. He is greatly mourned by family, and by his friends, his colleagues and scientific associates across the globe, his community at Congregation Beth Emek, and folk dancers across the US. His memory will be a blessing to us all.
Howard was interred at Gan Shalom cemetery in Briones, CA. Donations in his memory can be made to groups that he contributed to over the years: The Alameda County Food Bank, the American Red Cross of the Bay Area, the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, Planned Parenthood Foundation, and Congregation Beth Emek. Donations to the Livermore Lab Foundation would be appropriate: it supports scientific education, research and innovation at LLNL. Lastly, Howard donated blood for years - but also needed many units of blood during his surgeries and procedures. In his memory, please donate blood if you are eligible.
