Robert A. Graham

Robert (Bob) A. Graham died in Uvalde, Texas, on May 30, 2023, at the age of 92. Bob was one of the earliest scientists in the Physics Research Department of Sandia National Laboratories where he played a critical role in building Sandia’s world-class scientific capabilities.

A child of the Great Depression, Bob was born to John Mark Graham and Eleanor Ball (Evans) in Dallas, TX, on February 11, 1931. John was a bridge design engineer for a large steel company before the Depression. He spent most of his subsequent career as an engineer with the Texas Highway Department. Eleanor left the young family during the Depression, leaving John to raise Bob and his three siblings. The eldest, Jack (deceased), achieved national prominence for his electrical engineering work on the aircraft Terminal Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). His older sister, Betty (deceased), was an outstanding Spanish teacher in Bakersfield, CA, where she changed the lives of countless migrant farm workers. His younger sister, Jayne, is well recognized for her family genealogy research and library work in Bakersfield.

The John Graham family children attended public schools around Texas. “Bobby”, as he was known as a child, graduated from Uvalde High School in 1949. He is remembered as a versatile and competitive athletic performer with nine high school athletic letters, and two regional and one All-South Texas recognitions. He attended Allen Academy Junior College in Bryan, TX, on basketball and track scholarships.

Bob and Lettie Barbara Umphres were married in Asherton, Texas, in 1951. Their children are Stephanie Ann born in Carrizo Springs, TX; Mark Lee born in Arrington, Cambridge, England; and Stuart Russell born in Austin, TX. Barbara died in Tomé, New Mexico, in 1992 after 41 years of marriage. Bob subsequently married Nell (Heard) Griffin of Sabinal, Texas, in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1996. They lived briefly in Albuquerque before making their home in Uvalde in 1998.

Bob earned a BS degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in January 1954 while Barbara worked as a secretary. At graduation in 1954, he had the third-highest grade point average in the College of Engineering. He was second-in-command of the Army ROTC there and was awarded the Outstanding Army ROTC Engineer Medal. He entered the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1954 at the US Army Engineer School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where he graduated at the top of his class. Following his assignment at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in the Combat Engineers, the family moved to England where Bob was attached to the US Air Force in the US Army 803rd Engineering Construction Battalion. The group worked in the wake of the Berlin airlift to reconstruct the World War II Stansted Airfield outside London.

After military discharge, Bob and the family returned to the US to San Antonio where he worked on advanced titanium-vanadium-aluminum aerospace materials as a research engineer at Southwest Research Institute. He returned to the University of Texas, Austin where he received a Master of Science degree in Engineering Mechanics in 1958. He then joined the newly forming Physical Research group at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque in 1958. He was later appointed to the first group selected as Distinguished Members of the Technical Staff in 1996.

Bob’s forty-year research career at Sandia was at the forefront of the new science of materials behavior under very high pressure. This work is partially recorded in his two hundred ten scientific publications, four patents, landmark book (Solids Under High-Pressure Shock Compression), and numerous awards. His development of precisely controlled measurement provides the most precise data on solid materials of any static or dynamic method achieved to date. It plays a significant role in modern technology innovation and defense systems. His research led the Japanese Tokyo Institute of Technology to invite him to pursue and complete a research thesis for a Doctor of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering in 1992. In addition to original research, Bob played a leading role in organizing scientific meetings and publications He was largely responsible for initiating the American Physical Society Topical Group on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter.

Bob was a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science, and a Life Member of The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. He received special awards from the US Department of Energy, the FrenchGerman Research Institute of St. Louis, France, the American Physical Society, and the Sonics and Ultrasonics Group of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He presented research results in numerous international venues and was Editor-in-Chief and Founding Editor of the Springer-Verlag series on High Pressure Shock Compression of Condensed Matter.

After retirement, Bob focused his scientific energy on understanding materials from unusual natural history events within the Upper Nueces River region of Texas. Particularly important studies are The Uvalde Meteorite Impact Crater and The Cline, Texas Meteorite of 1928. He also carried out extensive research in genealogy and history. Within the Uvalde community, Bob and Nell worked actively in the Uvalde County Historical Commission. His book, Ettie Rheiner Garner: Blanco Creed Orphan – Within a Heartbeat of the White House, describes the childhood of the wife of Vice President John Nance Garner. This book and the pamphlet “African Americans of Uvalde, Texas” comprised part of their work.

While living in Albuquerque from 1958-1992, Bob, Barbara and their children particularly enjoyed the mountains of NM and traveled throughout the Rocky Mountains. The family was intimately connected to the Upper Pecos River Valley and the Pecos Wilderness, building a modest family cabin near Cowles, NM and the historic Robert Oppenheimer cabin. After completing her BA degree in education at the University of New Mexico, Barbara taught English at Manzano High School in Albuquerque. Bob and Barbara enjoyed ten years together at an historic adobe home and alfalfa farm in Tomé, NM. Three children, eight grandchildren, and eight greatgrandchildren survive Bob and his deceased wife, Barbara. Daughter Stephanie Ann Farrow and husband John live in Albuquerque; son Mark Lee Graham and wife Cindy are in Meridian, Idaho; and son Stuart Russell Graham is in Wasilla, Alaska. The oldest granddaughter,

Annemieke Farrow, is in California; grandson Stuart Mitchell (Cassandra) Graham and wife Laura are in Ohio; grandson Sean Graham, wife Beth and children Colin and Tessa live in Oregon; granddaughter Dr. Julie and husband Dr. Chadwick Hunt live in Idaho with their children, Morgan, Mallorie and Spencer; grandson David Adams and wife Amanda are in Alaska with their sons, Kade and Jace; grandson Matthew Graham and granddaughter Ashley Haken, husband Kyle and son Cooper also live in Alaska; and grandson Christopher and wife Linda live in Oregon. There are numerous nieces and nephews.

Bob’s wife, Nell Griffin-Graham, is at the family home in Uvalde. Nell’s children are Glynis Jeanne (Griffin) Crow and Pamela Ann Griffin. Glynis and husband, Philip, are at Reagan Wells, Texas. Their oldest son, Griffin Crow, lives in San Marcos, Texas, while their younger son, Ross Crow, lives in Leakey. Pamela lives in Leakey with husband, Ty Beard. Philip’s daughter, Page, husband Steven Tracy and children Macy and Jaxon live in Lake Jackson, TX. There are numerous nieces and nephews.

A private service will be held. Please send condolences to Sunset Memorial Park, 924 Menaul Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87107.