He is survived by his wife, Gayle Pardue Williams, his two children, Zachary and Adeline Williams, and his two dogs, Abita and Beauregard. He is also survived by his sister, Penny Teagle, of Shreveport, Louisiana. He is predeceased by his parents, Marshall and Polly Williams.
Mark was born on January 3, 1951 in Monroe, Louisiana. From a young age, he showed a keen interest in science, as well as a curiosity about the world in general that would last throughout his life. He received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering Science in 1972 from Louisiana State University and his Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering from Georgia Tech in 1974. From 1974-1979, Dr. Williams worked toward and received his PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Tennessee while serving as a research scientist in the Neutron Physics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He developed methods for "contributon" transport theory, sensitivity and depletion perturbation theories, and thermal reactor physics. A lifelong and avid LSU fan, Dr. Williams then moved to Baton Rouge and worked at LSU for twenty years until retirement, including as Professor of Nuclear Science and Professor of Physics and as Director of the Nuclear Science Center as well as the Medical Physics Program. During his time there, he patented a radiation emitter for cancer therapy and taught more than ten undergraduate and graduate courses. He also sat through hundreds of rainy football and baseball games and peeled thousands of crawfish. He returned to ORNL in 2003 as a distinguished researcher in the Reactor and Nuclear Systems Division. He worked on methods development for the internationally distributed SCALE nuclear analysis code system, contributed to resonance self-shielding theory, and developed calculations for lattice physics applications and sensitivity and uncertainty methods. He was also an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee in the Nuclear Engineering Department. Dr. Williams was elected as a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society in 2012 and received the prestigious Eugene Wigner Reactor Physicist Award in 2016. Throughout his career he published over 200 papers. In addition to his scientific expertise, Mark was an ardent reader, a skilled writer, a history buff, and a high school drummer. His life was always his family, his interests, and his work.
The family will receive friends from 12:30 to 2:00pm on Sunday, July 22, 2018 at Berry Highland Memorial, 5315 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. The Funeral Service will be at 2:00pm, with a Graveside Service to follow.
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