Thomas J. Parmley

Thomas Jennison Parmley (November 2, 1897 – September 15, 1997)^{[citation needed]} was an American physics professor at the University of Utah and chairman of the physics department from 1957 to 1963.^[1]

Parmley was born in Scofield, Utah to William and Mary Veal Parmley.^[2] His father was killed in the Scofield Mine disaster in that town in 1900.^[1] In 1921, he received his bachelor's degree from the University of Utah where he was a founding member of the Sigma Pi fraternity chapter.^[3] While still being an undergraduate, he worked as a chemist for the U.S. Smeltering Company.^[4] In 1923 he married LaVern W. Parmley^[2] who served as general president of the Primary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).^[1] He then earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1927.^[5] Prior to joining the faculty of the University of Utah, Parmley was involved in cyclotron research at the University of California, Berkeley.^[1] While there he was the lead author of the paper "The Radioactives of some high-mass isotopes of Cobalt"^[6]

Parmley was involved with the Atomic Energy Commission and the National Bureau of Standards.^[7] He was a member of the American Institute of Physics.^[5]

One of the main physics lecture halls at the University of Utah is named after him as is a scholarship.^[8]

In 1996 he was named the university's Centennial Professor.^[7]

Parmley's son William was a cardiologist and a leader in the LDS Church.^{[citation needed]}