March 7, 2017 – Ronald W P Drever, 2016 Shaw Prize Laureate and beloved Caltech Professor Emeritus whose research in development of the laser interferometry techniques in the LIGO experiment had made significant contribution to its success in detecting gravitation waves passed away Tuesday in Edinburgh, Scotland at age of 85.

Drever, as a co-founder of the LIGO project had, according to a statement from the family “…dedicated his lifetime to researching gravitational wave detection through LIGO and despite and fact dementia featured in his latter years, he was still aware of the global recognition that he and his colleagues at Caltech University in California and also the University of Glasgow had achieved.”

The Shaw Prize Foundation sends most sincere condolences to his beloved family, his colleagues and his friends.