Paul Jackson Channell, Sr.

The family of Paul Jackson Channell Sr. of Santa Fe, New Mexico is saddened to announce his passing on June 1, 2025 at the age of 77 years.

Paul was born on the heels of the World War II in rural Georgia to a family of farmers. During his childhood he raised chickens, bagged groceries in the family store, and played baseball in his spare time. Through relentless academic pursuit, Paul developed a love of mathematics and science. Somehow along the way, he also found time to study piano and consume books on every topic imaginable.

In his youth, Paul attended Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. After Baylor, he was accepted to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he earned bachelor's degrees in both mathematics and physics. After leaving MIT he went off to the University of California Berkeley to pursue a PhD. While in California, he met Dianne, who was studying Ancient Greek and the two were married. Paul was invited to the prestigious Institute for Advanced Study where he spent two years doing postdoctoral research in Princeton, New Jersey. During his time at Princeton, Paul and Dianne greeted their first son, Paul Jr. Following his time at the Institute for Advanced Study, when Paul was consulting during the summer in Texas, he received the offer from Los Alamos National Laboratory that would come to define his career. Paul and his family packed up and moved to high desert of northern New Mexico, settling in Santa Fe.

In the winter of 1986, Paul and Dianne's second son, Ravi, arrived. Paul continued his work at Los Alamos. Despite his demanding career, he always found time for his family. He would read books to Ravi and take Paul Jr. to gymnastics. Among his favorite pastimes was Saturday morning breakfast at any local Santa Fe eatery. Paul would leverage his expansive lexicon to work through the word jumble puzzles, the crossword, and then read the funnies. He loved to take his family to New Mexico Museum of Natural History and walk around looking over each exhibit, carefully explaining each feature to his boys.

Paul spent the next 35 years at Los Alamos National Lab working on national security science and cutting-edge research to advance foundational science and advance the security of the United States through innovation. After retiring from his career at Los Alamos National Lab in 2013, his work was not done. Paul continued to collaborate with former colleagues and friends over the next decade, all the while caring for his wife in New Mexico and his mother in Georgia.

He is survived by his wife, Dianne Channell, son Ravi Channell, daughter-in-law Amara Channell, sister-in-law Carolyn Channell, as well as numerous relatives and friends.  He was preceded in death by his son, Paul Jackson Channell Jr.; brother, Robert Melvin "Mickey" Channell; and his parents, Pauline Jackson Richardson Channell and Robert Melvin Channell.

Memorial donations may be made to American Physical Society, APS Development Office, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, Maryland, 20740.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Paul Jackson Channell, Sr., please visit our floral store.