Marshall Lapp
With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of Marshall Lapp, age 92, on May 5, 2025. After a
full and well-lived life, he died peacefully at home following a short illness.
Marshall was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and friend. Marshall and his wife, Margery
Z. Lapp, shared 45 wonderful years together, filled with a mutual love of travel, art, music,
books, and long conversations. Their life together was rich with laughter, much of it sparked by
Marshall’s clever and dry wit. His passing came unexpectedly, shortly after the death of his
beloved wife.
In addition to the rich personal life he shared with Margery and his family, Marshall pursued a
distinguished career in science. Marshall received his Bachelor of Engineering Physics from
Cornell University in 1955 and his Ph.D. in Engineering Science from the California Institute of
Technology in 1960, where he was a Guggenheim Fellow. In the early stages of his career, from
1960–1983, he was a physicist at the General Electric Research and Development Center in
Schenectady, New York. His focus was the study of atomic and molecular properties of gases,
based on optical spectroscopy and light scattering, including diagnostic applications for
combustion and fluid mechanics.
Marshall was a founding member of the Laser Science Technical Group of the American
Physical Society, and he authored or co-authored over 70 papers in a variety of journals and
proceedings in atomic and molecular physics, optical spectroscopy and diagnostics, Raman
scattering, fluorescence, combustion science, fluid dynamics, and lidar.
In 1983, Marshall joined Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California, where his
expertise was applied to fundamental problems in combustion. Marshall was a key figure at the
newly formed Combustion Research Facility at Sandia where his prior work in laser Raman gas
diagnostics was applied to diagnose the complexities of turbulent reacting flows in internal
combustion engines. In 1989, he leveraged his expertise in laser Raman diagnostics to co-
found a climate studies program at Sandia. Within this program, he led an effort to develop a
mobile laser remote sensing system to study the climatological effects of water vapor and the
relation to atmospheric carbon dioxide. Marshall extended this work beyond Sandia and formed
important collaborations with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
This was an enormously successful effort that led to the development of several laser remote
sensing systems that were deployed in tropical and arctic regions around the world. Following
this success, he spun off the water vapor laser remote sensing work into another large program
to remotely detect other atmospheric trace gases both from the ground and unmanned aerial
vehicles.
Marshall’s career was notable in that his expertise was also sought at the end of the cold war to
meet with Russian scientists at the Russian nuclear weapons facility at Arzamas-16 in western
Siberia to find a way to work together on mutual national security problems. His name was
recognized throughout the world in the field of laser spectroscopy. His publication list is
extensive and his book on laser Raman diagnostics is still available today and is still very
relevant. He served on numerous journal editorial boards and was highly sought after as a reviewer.
His professional accomplishments are too numerous to list but he will be remembered mostly as a patient
and kind person who was a great mentor and well-liked in the scientific
community. Marshall retired in January 2001 but remained close with many of his colleagues.
In addition to his prodigious academic and professional career, Marshall was known for his
incredibly broad array of other personal interests, including photography, the history of science,
art, and architecture. His most passionate hobby, however, was collecting antique photographic
equipment and images. He was renowned in the San Francisco Bay Area as an enthusiastic
expert, collector, and dealer.
Marshall especially loved his family and was tremendously proud of his four grandchildren. He
will be fondly remembered by his sons for many things, including his strong support of their
individual academic, musical, and athletic interests. Particularly fond memories include
attending Union College hockey games in the 1970’s, Pelé’s historic retirement soccer game in
1977, the 1994 World Cup, and hiking in the Adirondacks and Yosemite National Park.
Marshall was preceded in death by his parents, Ben and Sophie Lapp, and his sister, Evelyn
Schoenberg. He is survived by his sons and their wives, David Lapp and Elizabeth Fajardo, and
Douglas Lapp and Simone Rinaldi; his beloved grandchildren, Benjamin, Jacob, Sophia, and
Aiden Lapp; and his nephews Steven, Loren and Donald Schoenberg and their families. He also
leaves behind a wide circle of cherished friends.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made to the ALS Association at
Services will be private.