Former Stony Brook University President and science advisor to President George W. Bush John H. Marburger has died, according to the Office of The Vice President of Research. He was 70 years old.
Marburger was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2006 but continued to serve the Bush administration until he left office in 2009, and in various capacities at the university until this June, when he retired as Vice President of Research citing deteriorating health.
News of Marburger’s passing comes just two weeks after another former President, John S. Toll, died.
Marburger’s tenure as university president lasted 14 years, from 1980 to 1994. Prior to taking the role of president, Marburger’s served as chair of the physics department and Dean of the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences at the University of Southern California.
When he vacated his office in 1994, he remained at the university and in 1997 became the first director of Brookhaven National Laboratory under it’s new partnership with Stony Brook University.
In 2001 he was appointed science advisor to President George W. Bush, a role he served in throughout the entire Bush presidency. He is the longest serving science advisor in US history.
University President Samuel Stanley will be sending an email to the campus community today to announce the news.
