C. Peter Flynn (August 18, 1935 – October 27, 2011) was a Professor of Physics and of Materials Science at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

. Professor Flynn was on the faculty of the University of Illinois from 1960 until 2011 and served as the director of the Frederick Seit
Materials Research Laboratory
from 1978 until 1987. He was a fellow of both the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

and the

American Society for Metals ASM International, formerly known as the American Society for Metals, is an association of materials-centric engineers and scientists. ASM provides several information resources, including technical books, various digital databases, and ASM Han ...

, and was Chairman of the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...

Council on Materials between 1985 and 2005. He pioneered the technique of

molecular beam epitaxy Molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) is an epitaxy method for thin-film deposition of single crystals. MBE is widely used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, including transistors, and it is considered one of the fundamental tools for the devel ...

, a method of growing crystalline solids from layers of selected elements. He also helped construct one of the first low energy electron microscopes in the United States.Flynn's faculty web page
at UIUC. Flynn was born in

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

, a small market town in North Yorkshire, England on August 18, 1935. He was the son of Francis Johnson Flynn, a police constable in the village of Hovingham, and his wife, Edith Hannah, a local war-time nurse. Peter received a full scholarship to the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

where he received his bachelor’s and Ph.D. in Physics in 1960. He subsequently earned an M.A. (Hon.) in physics from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. In 1960, Peter moved to the United States to take a post-doctoral position with the Physics Department of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he worked until May 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flynn, C. Peter University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty American physicists Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of the University of Cambridge 1935 births 2011 deaths