Philip W Arcuni
Oct. 9, 1958-Nov. 23, 2014
Menlo Park, California
Philip W. Arcuni died of a sudden cardiac arrest on Sunday, November 23, 2014, while bicycling up Old La Honda Road with his niece, Alix Wicker, on his way to the ocean.
Phil was born in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1958, the son of a Naval officer, and the family moved frequently around the country, living in Texas; Monterey, California; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Key West, Florida; Doylestown, Pennsylvania; and Anapolis, Maryland.
Higher education took him to New York, Illinois, Colorado and Indiana before he settled in California in 1990.
He graduated from Central Bucks East HS in 1976 as valedictorian, and from Colgate University in 1980 in physics. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 1986. His dissertation, "Autoionization of the (2s2p)¹p, (2p²)¹D, and the (2s²)¹s states of helium after excitation by fast, multiply charged ions," involved hitting helium with lasers. Dr. Hugo Fano chaired his dissertation committee.
He held post-doctoral research posts at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, working for Dr. Alan Gallagher and later at the University of Notre Dame working for Dr. Stephen Lundeen.
He was an Associate Professor of Physics at Occidental College in Los Angeles from 1990-1997 where he led a multi-year effort to create the Early-Childhood Development Center to allow faculty and staff to manage work and family.
He joined Intevac Corporation in Santa Clara in 1997. He lead the systems engineering efforts for every product now in production at Intevac Photonics including the Sagem module, the LIVAR camera used by Northrop Grumman, the Apache Camera, and the digital night-vision goggle.
He took Intevac EBAPS technology and developed the image processing algorithms and systems requirements to achieve breakthrough night vision performance. He was greatly respected by colleagues and customers alike.
Phil was a swimmer in high school and walked onto his college swim team. He returned to the pool when he moved to the swimming mecca that is Northern California. Swimming with his teammates at Menlo Masters was one of his great joys, and for many years you could find him tossing himself into Burgess Pool at 5:45 am and trying to lead his lane, despite the fact that his lane mates got younger and younger.
He participated with his teammates in the Trans-Tahoe Relay and competed nationally as a Masters swimmer, setting several top-10 records in the backstroke and 200 butterfly.
He loved bicycling, and had toured across Europe and the Rocky Mountains as a young man. He was a lifelong environmentalist and donated frequently to environmental causes.
He referred to himself as a "radical materialist," and believed firmly in the power of science to improve the world. He had read every good science fiction story ever written and many bad ones as well. He loved computer games, and played "Hack" "Myst," "Civilization," and more over decades. While he played "World of Warcraft," he always asserted that "Rogue" was the better game.
He is survived by Carin Pacifico, his wife of 30 years; his children, Cara and Philip; his parents, Phil and Lois Arcuni of The Cedars in Chapel Hill, NC; his sister and brother-in-law Cheryl and Kent Wicker of Durham, NC; his niece and nephew, Alix and Jared Wicker; and ?Arcunis by Choice? Dr. Wannasiri Lapcharoensap of Burlingame and Niels Davidsen of Ringkobing, Denmark.
In lieu of flowers, Phil would have asked that you recycle, use canvas bags, ride your bicycle, buy an electric car, and donate to the environmental organization of your choice. He gave to them all and so was inundated with calls at dinner time: Sierra Club, ForestsForever, CALPIRG, California League of Conservation Voters, and so on.
He also believed in funding medical research, so you might donate to the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and the Stanford/VA Alzheimer's Research Center in his name. Phil gave blood monthly at Stanford Hospital and would encourage you to help them too.
