Boise State University Distinguished Professor of Physics Dr. Alex Punnoose died peacefully in his sleep on Saturday morning, July 23, at home. He was 48 years old. He is survived by his wife, Tina, and their children, Boise State biology major Cathy, 19, Paul, 17, and Peter, 7.
He will be remembered this week at a 7 p.m. Thursday night vigil service and a 2 p.m. Friday afternoon funeral at St. Mark’s Catholic Church, 7960 W. Northview St., where he and his family have long been devoted congregants and community members. Burial will take place at Morris Hill Cemetery at 317 N. Latah St. immediately after the funeral service, with a reception following from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at St. Mark’s Donoghue Hall.
Punnoose received his bachelor of science in physics from Mahatma Gandhi University in 1988 and his Ph.D. in physics from Aligarh University in 1994; he came to Boise State in August 2002. Department chair Charles Hanna called him “a wonderful human being and an outstanding researcher, teacher and university colleague.”
His research focused on the synthesis and characterization of semiconductor nanoparticles, initially for spintronic and nanoelectronic applications, and later for medical and biological applications. Punnoose was one of the first experimental nanotechnology researchers at Boise State, and one of its first NSF CAREER award recipients.
He was principal investigator or co-investigator of 24 nationally competitive research grants awarded between 2002 and 2012, totaling over $8 million. He was a highly cited author who published more than 110 peer-reviewed scientific papers, more than 80 of them while at Boise State. He gave 18 invited talks and over 90 contributed presentations. He also held five patents based on his Boise State research.
Punnoose received several awards while at Boise State, including selection as a Boise State Distinguished Professor, a Boise State Foundation Award for outstanding research, and simultaneous awards for both research and teaching from the College of Arts and Sciences. He also was honored as Coach for a Game by the Boise State Athletic Department in 2007. He had a large number of interdisciplinary research collaborations with a variety of researchers from different Boise State departments, Idaho and national universities, and international institutions. In 2012, he became the second recipient of the Jean’ne Shreeve NSF EPSCoR Research Excellence Award.
Punnoose was a devoted teacher and mentor to Boise State students. He was a research mentor to more than 30 undergraduate students, 13 graduate students and 6 post-doctoral researchers from physics, biology, chemistry and engineering. He was a founding member of the graduate program in materials science and engineering, and an active member of the Biomolecular Sciences Ph.D. program, where he served as thesis advisor and research mentor to two Ph.D. graduate students.
“Above all, he was a delightful, honest, and kind person of great integrity and generosity. He inspired those who knew him, and affected the lives of those around him for the better,” Hanna said.
As one of his former Boise State undergraduate students wrote, “It is incredibly sad to lose someone who had such an impact on my life, and the lives of so many other students. I am confident that Dr. Punnoose will remain the standard by which I compare myself and evaluate others against, as a mentor, scientist and person.”
BY: KATHLEEN TUCK PUBLISHED 1:58 PM / JULY 26, 2016