Paul Quin

Paul Quin of Silver Spring, MD, died peacefully on October 9, 2025 at Riderwood surrounded by family. Paul was born in Brooklyn, NY on April 26, 1941, the second of five children of Ralph Manual and Marion Cecelia (McCance) Quin. Raised mostly in the Midwest during and after World War II, Paul graduated from St. Procopius College (now Benedictine University), class of 1963, and from the University of Notre Dame with a Ph.D. in physics in 1969. Paul accepted a postdoctoral position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, survived the bombing of Sterling Hall in 1970, and joined the Department of Physics faculty in 1971, achieving the rank of Professor in 1981. His teaching at UW ranged from mentoring postdoctoral fellows and Ph.D. graduate students, graduate seminars and courses, advanced undergraduate courses, and large introductory courses for engineers and life-science majors.Paul’s research focused on nuclear and fundamental interactions and instrument development, throughout his career in Madison, eventually leading to collaborations with the Catholic Universities of Louvain and Leuven, Belgium, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. Paul gave invited talks at international conferences in North America and Europe and taught a NATO School course in fundamental interactions. Paul was a Fellow of the American Physical Society.For Paul, 1981 was a transitional and joyous year. He married the love of his life, Pamela Aird Wilson, M.D., on June 20 after a courtship of only eight months, to the astonishment of his family who were convinced he was a confirmed bachelor. Their daughter, Elizabeth, was born in 1985, a blessing to her parents and many others. While the New York Quin and McCance extended families were with a few exceptions, childhood memories, Pamela’s Dickie and Wilson relatives welcomed him for forty-four years of friendship and family.Paul was preceded in death by his parents and older brother Ralph. He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Pamela Wilson, daughter Elizabeth Quin (Michael Burgtorf) and grandchildren Lillian and Andrew Burgtorf. Also surviving him are Mary Ann (Ann) Quin (sister-in-law), brother John (Bertha) Quin, and sisters Virginia (Ginny) (Tom) Kowalski, M. Patricia (Patty) (Dexter) McCormick and many nieces and nephews. A memorial service was held at Riderwood on April 18, 2026. A Memorial Service will be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 4100 Nakoma Rd., Madison, WI on May 23, 2026 at 11 a.m. with inurnment to follow at Oak Hill Cemetery in North Freedom, WI. Memorials may be given in Paul's memory to Westminster Presbyterian Church or the University of Wisconsin-Madison Physics Department.   For more information regarding Paul's life and work please see:  https://www.physics.wisc.edu/2025/10/28/nuclear-physicist-paul-quin-has-passed-away/