Francesc S. Roig

After a valiant nine month battle against cancer, Francesc passed away on August 2, 2024, sur- rounded by his twin brother Albert and family, his dear friend David Cannell, and his wife of fifty-two years, Kathy. Francesc and Albert were born in Barcelona to Josep Maria and Maria Estel Roig on Sep- tember 28, 1944, one year after his father was released from Franco's prisons in post-civil war Spain. His father sent him to school to become a chemical engineer, but a friend gave him a physics book that opened up a whole new world to him. When he completed his training as an engineer, he promptly enrolled at the university in Barcelona to study physics. After five years of studies, he came to the United States on a Fulbright Travel Grant to pursue a doctorate at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. There he met his wife Kathy. They married in 1972. When they completed their doctorates in 1977, academic positions in the U.S. were scarce, so he accepted a teaching position at the Catholic University of Puerto Rico, after which he taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for two years before accepting a po- sition in the physics department at the University of California-Santa Barbara, where he taught from 1980 until retirement, returning every year thereafter to teach a course in the College of Creative Studies. When Francesc joined the College of Creative Studies at UCSB, there were only a handful of physics students. He designed new courses and recruited gifted students from all over the U.S. Upon his retirement, seventy-five physics students were enrolled in CCS physics. Twice he was chosen Professor of the Year by the UCSB student body and won additional teaching awards as well. Francesc was a member of San Roque parish and a man of profound religious faith who saw no incompatibility between science and religion. While suﬀering from the ravages of cancer and chemotherapy, he remarked, "I'm suﬀering, but Christ is suﬀering with me." He is survived by his wife, his brothers Albert and Josep Maria, seven nieces and nephews, and countless students whose lives were influenced for the better by having him as their teacher. In lieu of flowers, a gift may be sent to The Roig Summer Undergraduate Research Fund at https://giving.ucsb.edu/Funds/Give?id=41 or to San Roque Catholic Church, 325 Argonne Cir- cle, Santa Barbara, CA 93105.

Francesc S. Roig

September 28, 1944 - August 2, 2024