Ralph B Dinwiddie

Rest in Peace

Ralph B Dinwiddie found peace on April 9, 2020 in his home surrounded by love. He was 62 years old. Above all, Ralph was a loving father and husband.

His energy, creativity, and humor were inspiring and contagious. He loved his family and made them a priority in every aspect of his life. Ralph is an inspiration to those he has left behind. He will be missed by many and forgotten by none.

Ralph was born and raised in Southern New Jersey, where he graduated from Stockton State University with a BS in Applied Physics. He completed his MS and Ph.D. at the University of Delaware before making his home in East Tennessee.

He worked as a Senior Research Scientist with Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 30 years and he loved every minute of it, often referring to his job as being like a little boy in a toy store.

Ralph was a world leader in the area of Infrared Thermography, which provided him endless research opportunities.  Among his favorites were investigating the Hunley, examining paintings and their alleged relation to Jack the Ripper, and developing a nanocomposite separator which he and his colleagues received the R&D 100 Award, recognizing the 100 most technologically significant products.

He has been an instrumental member of the Board of Governors of the International Thermal Conductivity Conference, having served as president, chairman, historian and conference host. He was an active participant as an author, session chair and Program Committee member for the SPIE's ThermoSense Conference for many years.  He was also Chair or Co-Chair for the 2000, 2001 and 2009 ThermoSense Conferences. He has over 100 technical publications and 2 patents.

Tirelessly curious, Ralph had many hobbies, interests, and projects. He never stopped learning, and dreamt of returning to college after retirement and traveling with his wife, Sharon. He was an avid stamp collector and past president of the Knoxville Philatelic Society. He worked on the KPS newsletter, designed first day covers that showcased the launch of newly minted stamps for the KPS show KNOXPEx, as well as many KnoxPEx postal cancels.

Ralph was also a lover of good food and an excellent chef. He also enjoyed woodworking, following NASA developments, graphic design, photography, the stock market, and whatever his children were interested in at any given time.

He will be greatly missed by his family, fellow scientists and philatelists!