Henry James Mackey, 86, Professor Emeritus of physics, died May 12 in Gulfport, Mississippi. Known to his loved ones as Jimmy, he graduated with his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in physics from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. After completing his doctorate in 1964, he became a physics professor at UNT and worked for 36 years until his retirement. He was a solid-state physicist, and in 1967, he and professor Jim Sybert received the physics department’s first research grant funded by an outside agency — the U.S. Department of Defense — for their study of electron conduction in metals. He also was involved in the laser research at the Center for Applied Quantum Electronics at UNT. He was preceded in death by wife Marycarl Mackey, who worked in the UNT Student Health and Wellness Center. Survivors include his son Kevin Mackey (’85, ’87 M.S.).
Henry James Mackey, 86, Professor Emeritus of physics, died May 12 in Gulfport, Mississippi. Known to his loved ones as Jimmy, he graduated with his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in physics from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. After completing his doctorate in 1964, he became a physics professor at UNT and worked for 36 years until his retirement. He was a solid-state physicist, and in 1967, he and professor Jim Sybert received the physics department’s first research grant funded by an outside agency — the U.S. Department of Defense — for their study of electron conduction in metals. He also was involved in the laser research at the Center for Applied Quantum Electronics at UNT. He was preceded in death by wife Marycarl Mackey, who worked in the UNT Student Health and Wellness Center. Survivors include his son Kevin Mackey (’85, ’87 M.S.).
