n diodes; both realized that the recent invention of the transistor would open opportunities for those trained in solid state physics. The new appointment permitted considerable expansion of facilities as well as the addition of a number of young faculty members. Research was extended to the range of liquid helium with considerable effectiveness, not least in the study of color centers in the alkali halides. Much of the new work was carried out by talented and highly motivated members of the younger staff, but along lines Maurer had explored. Beyond this, Maurer soon became a stalwart member of the physics faculty, serving broadly in the affairs of the department.
In the 1950s, and encouraged by the advice of John von Neumann who had become one of the five members of the Atomic Energy Commission, the federal agencies decided to fund a number of interdisciplinary materials research laboratories at universities. The University of Illinois was the fortunate recipient of one, funded through cooperation of the Department of Defense and the Atomic Energy Commission, guided in turn by Charles Yost and Donald K. Stevens. By mutual consent of those from the various departments of the university who were to be involved in the laboratory, Maurer was chosen to lead the interdisciplinary advisory group in planning a new building and associated facilities on the campus. It was then natural that he be selected as its director when the laboratory opened in 1963. He occupied that position for the next fifteen years. Soon after retirement in 1981 he and Dorothy Maurer moved to a new home in what were then the suburbs of Santa Fe.
Although Maurer's approach to an experimental problems tended to follow direct, traditional lines, as was the case for example in studying the diffusion of a radioactive isotope, his work was distinguished by the use of the most advanced equipment available, accompanied by great care and neatness. The results he obtained were inevitably convincing as a result of the thoroughness with which they had been carried out.
He read widely and always had a book nearby for spare-time activity. The range extended from the classics, history and philosophy to pulpy detective stories. His father had been a creditable amateur artist; Robert inherited some of his talent and all of his appreciation of art. It was always a pleasure to accompany him to an art exhibit and share the benefits of his "artist's eye". Once long-playing records became available, he became intimately familiar with much classical music, not least chamber music and the operas of the eighteen and nineteenth century. He understandably fell in love with Persian rugs and collected so many that they had to be stacked in his study. Like his brother Armand, who is Professor Emeritus of mediaeval philosophy, including the philosophy of science, at the Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Toronto, Robert enjoyed entering into lively discussions of the greater meaning of life and the world which we inhabit. Early on his views were constrained to a degree by his formal religious upbringing, but they became ever more universal with the passage of time.
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