Joseph
L.
Kirchgessner
Joseph. L. Kirchgessner, 90, of Fayetteville, NY, died February 22, 2023 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Syracuse, surrounded by his loving family.
He was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, to Albert and Anne Kirchgessner, the second of four children. He graduated from high school in Syracuse, NY where he met his future wife, Carol L. Brown. Upon Graduation, cum laude, from Le Moyne College with a BS Degree in Physics in 1954, was awarded a Graduate Research Assistantship in Physics at Cornell University. He and Carol L Brown were married in 1956 and, after graduation with an MS in Physics, left Cornell and accepted a position at Princeton University working on the early design stages of the Princeton-Penn Accelerator. He was promoted to the position of Senior Technical Staff member and in 1968 was made head of the Advanced Development Division.
In 1970 he accepted the position of Accelerator Physicist at the Laboratory of Nuclear Studies at Cornell University. While at Cornell, his research included several areas of accelerator technology including the new field of RF Superconductivity. He was promoted to the position of Senior Research Associate and was Deputy Group Leader of the Superconducting RF Group. While at Princeton and Cornell he was the author or co-author of more than 100 papers, articles and books. He retired from Cornell University in 1997 after completing the design of the innovative Superconducting RF Accelerating System for the Electron Positron Storage Ring, CESR.
After retirement, he and his wife Carol moved to Fayetteville, NY where they enjoyed travel and his long-time hobby of playing the guitar. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Carol Kirchgessner, two sons, Joseph D. Kirchgessner of Concord MA, James A. Kirchgessner of Tempe, AZ, one daughter, Andrea Jackson of Darien CT, his brother, Thomas Kirchgessner, of Cleveland, OH, two sisters, Dorothy Gullotta and Mary Anne Bergamo, both of Syracuse, NY, and six grandchildren, Daniel and Allie, Megan and Brian Kirchgessner, and Emma and Sarah Jackson.
A Service and Celebration of Life will be held at a future date to be planned by the Family.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Francis House, 108 Michaels Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13208