Harry Swinney: key obituary facts
Is Harry Swinney dead? Yes. Harry Swinney died on July 13, 2026, at age 87.
Cause of death: Harry Swinney's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Harry Swinney known for?
He was an American physicist.
More about Harry Swinney
Born: 10 April 1939.
Place of birth: Opelousas.
Gender: male.
Occupation: physicist.
Nationality: United States.
Education: Johns Hopkins University, Rhodes College.
Employer: University of Texas at Austin, City College of New York.
Awards: Boltzmann Medal, Fellow of the American Physical Society, Fluid Dynamics Prize (APS), Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Lewis Fry Richardson Medal, Guggenheim Fellowship.
Also known as: Harry Leonard Swinney, Harry L. Swinney.
Known for: Chaos, pattern formation, and fluid dynamics experiments.
Harry Swinney, the American physicist known for work in pattern formation and fluid dynamics experiments, died on July 13, 2026.
Born in Opelousas, Louisiana, on April 10, 1939, he was also known for his contributions to nonlinear dynamics. Swinney studied physics at Rhodes College, then earned a doctorate in physics from Johns Hopkins University in 1968.
His career included appointments at the University of Texas at Austin and the City College of New York. He was honored with the Boltzmann Medal, the Fluid Dynamics Prize of the American Physical Society, the Lewis Fry Richardson Medal, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and fellowships from the American Physical Society and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.