Loyola celebrates the life of Gregory N. Derry, Ph.D., professor emeritus of physics
Gregory N. Derry, Ph.D., professor emeritus of physics, passed away on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. He was 73.
Derry joined the faculty at what is now ĚÇĐÄVlog in 1986 as an assistant professor of physics. He earned tenure in 1990 and was promoted to professor in 2001. He retired in 2020 but remained actively involved with Loyola’s academic community as professor emeritus.
“Professor Derry was a well-respected and very committed physics faculty member,” shared Bahram Roughani, Ph.D., associate dean for the natural and applied sciences. “Even after he retired and in spite of his illness, he was active in co-organizing the Cosmos and Creation conference, which shows his commitment as an educator and how much he cared about Loyola.”
At Loyola, Derry chaired the physics department from 1996-2003, was a former chair of the curriculum committee, and was a long-time member of the National Fellowships committee. His research interests focused on the study of experimental surface physics, though he was also interested in the history and philosophy of science and was a longtime co-director of the University’s annual Cosmos and Creation conference. The conference, which was held at Loyola for the 43rd time in June, allows scientists to share their religious awareness with other scientists.
“I learned much about science and religion working with Greg Derry,” said Robert Pond, Ph.D., affiliate professor of engineering and co-director of the Cosmos and Creation conference. “He entertained and examined any idea, and he was kind and professional in his critical assessments. Dr. Derry was a great asset to Loyola in his teaching, research, and in the co-directorship of Loyola’s Cosmos & Creation conference on the intersections of science and religion.”
Throughout his decades-long career in academia, Derry published more than 30 peer-reviewed papers, mostly in the field of surface science. A lifelong advocate for science education, he also published the book, , to share his interest in science with other people.
Colleagues remember Derry’s breadth of knowledge on a variety of topics outside of the sciences as well.
“We got to know each other as neighbors when he invited me to his book club,” shared Richard Blum, Ph.D., professor emeritus of philosophy and longtime co-director of Cosmos and Creation. “In that reading group, his familiarity with literature, art, and music of all kinds and cultures was outstanding. I discovered how well-informed he was in philosophy, being a physics professor. He also frequently attended folk concerts and collected folk artifacts from all parts of the world.”
Derry and Blum went on to co-teach a class in philosophy and physics called "Nature: Sacred or Mundane."
“The students loved his way of making difficult science relatable for philosophy majors,” recalled Blum. “And they loved his quiet and attentive way of listening while teaching.”
Later, Derry published through Loyola’s , which Blum called a “groundbreaking study on the compatibility of spiritual and scientific research.”
Derry was the recipient of several major grants during his time at Loyola. In 1999, he was awarded a $102,497, three-year grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation for “research that will lead to characterization and understanding of the structure and composition of silver-gold alloy surfaces.” The undergraduate research grant was preceded by an even larger award of $107,000 several years prior, which allowed Derry to “purchase the major equipment necessary to perform experimental surface physics.”
In a 2001 supplemental publication celebrating faculty attainments, Derry—who had just been promoted to professor—described the most rewarding aspect of his Loyola experience as being an “engaged member of a community of scholars that includes both my faculty colleagues and my students,” and the opportunity to “serve as a mentor to a host of wonderful young scholars near the beginning of their academic lives.”
A 1974 graduate of Union College in Schenectady, New York, Derry earned his Ph.D. in physics from Pennsylvania State University in 1980, where he served as a graduate teaching and research assistant from 1975-79. He completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory before serving as a visiting assistant professor and then lecturer of physics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1983-86.
Derry’s survivors include his wife, Paula Derry, Ph.D., and daughter, Rebecca E. Derry, MAT ’14.
Arrangements
Details of the family’s arrangements for a future celebration of life will be shared with the community as they are finalized.
Derry will be remembered in the intentions at Mass in Loyola’s Alumni Memorial Chapel on Monday, Sept. 29, 2025, at 12:10 p.m. All are welcome.