Robert J Silbey

Robert J. Silbey, who served as dean of MIT’s School of Science from 2000 to 2007, died Thursday, Oct. 27 2011, after a battle with cancer. He was 71. Silbey joined the MIT faculty in 1966, becoming head of the chemistry department in 1990 and director of the Center for Materials Science and Engineering in 1998. He took over as interim dean in February 2000 and was named permanent dean the following year. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Silbey received a bachelor of science from Brooklyn College in 1961 and a PhD in theoretical physical chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1965. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin for a year before joining the MIT faculty in 1966. Silbey is survived by his wife, Susan, the Leon and Anne Goldberg Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at MIT; daughters Jessica and Anna; sons-in-law Keith Dresser and Jeffrey Thompson; brother Joel and sister-in-law Rosemary; sister-in-law and brother-in-law Alma and Dick Merians; nieces Victoria Silbey and Diane Merians; nephews David Silbey and Roger Merians; and four grandchildren: Charlotte Silbey Dresser, Harper Silbey Dresser, Henry Hardy Thompson-Silbey and Oliver Harold Thompson-Silbey.