Thomas Carlos Mehen

Thomas Carlos Mehen, 54, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina passed away at his home on December 29 ^th , 2024. Born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and raised in McLean, Virginia, Tom was a highly regarded member of the faculty in the Department of Physics at Duke University.

Tom earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Virginia, and received his master’s and doctoral degrees from Johns Hopkins University. He was a research associate and John A. McCone Postdoctoral Scholar at the California Institute of Technology and a research associate and University Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ohio State University.

Across more than two decades at Duke, Tom made substantial contributions in the field of quantum chromodynamics and the application of effective field theory to problems in hadronic physics, and was recognized by the Department of Energy with the Outstanding Junior Investigator Award in Nuclear Physics. He joined Duke as an assistant professor in 2002 and was named professor in 2016. Tom also served as a visiting professor at Duke Kunshan University in Kunshan, China.

A varsity basketball player and avid fan of the sport, Tom had the unique distinction during one of his stints in Kunshan of being introduced to the visiting NBA Commissioner as “the best basketball player on Duke’s Physics Faculty.” Tom also loved the game of chess and belonged to a weekly chess club in Chapel Hill.

Tom was an absolutely devoted father to his three children, a loving son and source of intense pride to his parents, a beloved older brother, and a proud member of the Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) community.

Tom was bright in every sense – blessed with a brilliant mind and steadfastly hopeful heart. His profound curiosity, openness and kindness touched and enriched the lives of all who knew him. He will be dearly, dearly missed.

Tom is survived by his children Zoey, Amelia and Connor, his brothers George and Michael, his former spouse Lori, and his sister-in-law Djana.

A service in his memory will be held on Saturday, January 11 ^th at 1:00pm at the Duke University Chapel.