Paul Fleury, a pioneering engineer and physicist whose work helped shape modern communications and materials science, and who served as dean of the Yale faculty of engineering from 2000 to 2007, died in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania on April 30 after a short illness. He was 86.
Fleury, who was the Frederic William Beinecke Professor of Engineering, Emeritus at Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science, was internationally recognized for his work in condensed matter physics, optics, and materials science. He was also among the first physicists to use the newly invented laser to do fundamental science. When he arrived at AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1965, he applied his expertise in light scattering from solids to uncover their inner workings in a series of groundbreaking experiments.
Over his lifetime, Fleury held five patents, wrote over 100 articles, professional papers, and reports, and contributed to more than a dozen books in addition to his own book, "Coherence and Energy Transfer in Glasses" (1984). In 1985 his seminal contributions were recognized with the Michelson-Morley Award, awarded by Case Western Reserve University in recognition of outstanding work in science and engineering. In 1992 he received the Frank Isakson Prize of the American Physical Society for advancing the understanding of optical effects in solids. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1996 and the National Academy of Sciences in 1999.
Fleury's first administrative position was at Bell Labs where he worked for a quarter century and where his evident leadership qualities led to his administrative appointments. He was, first, head of condensed state research, and then director of the Materials Research Laboratory, where he oversaw the perfecting of the production of optical fiber, supervising a project which ultimately provided the optical fiber to the entire Bell system and which contributed greatly to a transformational technology of the information age. He continued at Bell Labs later as head of the Physical Research Laboratory, a premier fundamental physics research unit, and then as director of the Materials and Processing Research Laboratory.
Following his years at Bell Labs, Fleury became the vice president for research at Sandia National Laboratories, where he supervised a large research establishment and guided projects of major national significance for defense science. He served as dean of engineering at the University of New Mexico from 1996 to 2000 before coming to Yale.
In 2000, Fleury was appointed as Yale's dean of the faculty of engineering, following then-President Richard Levin's announcement of a $500 million investment in science and engineering. He followed D. Allan Bromley, who was Yale's first dean of the faculty of engineering in the modern age and whose tenure revitalized Yale engineering.
Fleury played a central role in strengthening and modernizing the school during the next pivotal moment in its history. As dean, he worked to recruit distinguished faculty, expand research capacity, and deepen the connections between engineering and the sciences, medicine, and the broader university. During the building of the new Malone Engineering Center, a highly functional and yet aesthetically pleasing addition to the Yale campus which was designed by the renowned Yale architect Cesar Pelli, Fleury worked tirelessly on the project, from conception through the nitty-gritty design work and completion.
"When Paul Fleury came to New Haven in 2000, the revitalization of Yale Engineering was already under way," said Richard Levin, Yale's president emeritus, who recruited Fleury to Yale. "He accelerated its momentum by recruiting superb additions to the faculty. A considerable part of the success of Yale Engineering today is attributable to Paul's vision and his calm, steady leadership."
Fleury believed passionately in the value of basic research and maintained that engineering was not merely technical training, but an essential intellectual enterprise - one that linked scientific understanding with creativity, design, and public purpose. At a time when interdisciplinary work was becoming increasingly central to scientific progress, he championed collaboration across traditional boundaries. A. Douglas Stone, the Carl Morse Professor of Applied Physics at Yale Engineering and professor of physics in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, called him both "visionary and collaborative."
An early advocate of what became quantum engineering and quantum materials science, Fleury played a key role in the successful effort to bring a National Science Foundation Materials Research Center to Yale for the first time, and in setting up the Yale Institute for Nanoscience and Quantum Engineering (YINQE). The institute helped position Yale as a major center in nanoscience and quantum engineering. After retiring as dean, Fleury was appointed to a role as director of the newly established institute and continued at the institute and as professor of physics until his retirement in 2015.
Daniel Prober, a professor of applied physics, physics, and electrical engineering, praised Fleury's clear vision.
"Paul recognized early the great promise of Yale's quantum micro- and nanoelectronics research," Prober said. "His commitment to adding and upgrading the facilities led to a new state-of-the art clean-room and nanofabrication lab. Without these, the world-leading advances in quantum computing at Yale would not have been possible. We look back at his early insight with great appreciation."
Indeed, Fleury's family noted that he was "incredibly proud of his long association with Yale University and of his enduring relationships there."
Fleury also made contributions on the national level. He held leadership roles within the physics community, chairing the American Physical Society's Division of Condensed Matter Physics and the Solid State Sciences Committee of the National Research Council. Under the Obama administration, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz oversaw a comprehensive, Congress-mandated review, which Fleury helped conduct, of the 17 national laboratories. This led to the first-ever "State of the National Labs" report, co-authored by Fleury, which identified challenges with aging infrastructure and recommended better alignment with strategic goals, infrastructure needs, and lab-directed research (LDRD).
Paul Aimé Fleury V was born in Baltimore, Maryland, raised in Detroit, Michigan, and educated at John Carroll University and MIT, where he was trained by the legendary physicist Charles Townes. He loved the beauty of the Sandia Mountains, a mountain range in New Mexico, that he overlooked for many years from his home in Albuquerque and the joys of the Woodbine Farm in Maryland that had been in his family for generations.
Fleury is survived by his wife, Carol Anne; his three daughters, Ellen Fleury Vick (James Vick), Laura Fleury, and Jennifer Fleury Metz (David Metz); five grandchildren; his sisters Fran Fleury Schihl and Suzanne Fleury Hoffmeyer; and his brother Bruce Fleury. His brothers Jack Fleury and Bob Fleury predeceased him.
A celebration of his life will take place later in the year. In his memory, the family asks for donations that supports young people interested in science.
